The Butterfly Effect
by Kurisutiina-chan
Summary: HIATUS until March 2012. They say the beating of a butterfly's wings can cause a tsunami half a world away. Itachi was the butterfly who beat his wings and enabled Naruto and Sakura to keep their promise to bring Sasuke back. From chapter 396 - SakuSasu.
1. A Butterfly Beats its Wings

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, and that will not change throughout this story.

Authoress' Notes: There are a few chapters of this just sitting in my computer's memory and since I won't have much time to write anything new until my spring break, and since I feel like posting something, I had to offer my Sakura and Sasuke story to the fanfiction community. This is only on a trial basis though. I'll see what people think, probably post what else is sitting saved on my computer, and if it seems like people like it, and if I get attached to it, I'll continue with new chapters in the Summer.

* * *

**The Butterfly Effect**

* * *

**Chapter 1 - A Butterfly Beats its Wings**

_The butterfly effect is a metaphor that encapsulates the concept of sensitive dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory; namely a small change at one place in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere. Although this may appear to be an esoteric and unusual behavior, it is exhibited by very simple systems: for example, a ball placed at the crest of a hill might roll into any of several valleys depending on slight differences in initial position. The butterfly effect is a common trope in fiction when presenting scenarios involving time travel and with "what if" cases where one storyline diverges at the moment of a seemingly minor event resulting in two significantly different outcomes._

* * *

"We have to get to Sasuke before them!"

Sakura watched in shocked silence as Kakashi climbed high into the trees, a million different thoughts running through her head, though one stood out above the rest. Sasuke had killed Itachi, and now, he was so close to them, and fading fast if what the plant-like Akatsuki had said was true – she needed to get to him _now_.

"Hinata! See what's going on at four o'clock!" Kakashi yelled down from his position in the tree.

"O-ok," Hinata answered through her stutter, immediately doing as she was told.

Sakura watched as Hinata focussed her Byakugan eyes where Kakashi told her. The pink haired kunoichi's heart was beating as fast as a hummingbird's wings - she was sure it was going to fly out of her chest. Was this it? Were they finally going to bring Sasuke home?

"There's an area ten kilometres from here surrounded by a very powerful chakra... And... Umm... The forest is burning... And the flames are black," Hinata answered Kakashi, her stutter reduced in her concentration.

"That's it!" Kakashi exclaimed quietly, but even so, they all heard his words. "Everyone follow me!" he then ordered, taking off from the tree.

Sakura took a moment to glance at Naruto before moving. He was one of the only people who could possibly understand what she was feeling right now. His eyes were closed, and Sakura watched as his face took on the most determined look she had ever seen. His eyes snapped open. "Move out at top speed!" Naruto commanded.

No one dared to question him. They moved out, racing through the forest towards where thick black clouds hung in the sky.

* * *

The second Uchiha Madara reached for the only other living Uchiha's body, he could feel a small chakra that was not Sasuke's within it. It took a moment for him to recognize it, and once he did, he paused - Itachi's chakra was something to be wary of. Madara had lived many years and he thought he had seen everything, but he had never seen the chakra of a dead man actively at work. Oh sure, he acknowledged that it was possible - a technique initiated before death could easily continue to its completion after death if the power had already been provided. So what exactly was Itachi's chakra doing?

Madara shrugged it off and continued reaching for the boy, unconcerned. After all, there was nothing Itachi could do to stop his plans now that he was dead. But the closer Madara got to Sasuke, the more the feeling that his plan had been thwarted by a dead man grew.

He was about to grab Sasuke so that he could move him and begin healing him - the boy's injuries were extensive after all and would need immediate treatment - when his chakra reacted to something, and he suddenly realized the purpose of Itachi's chakra.

Madara swore under his breath.

It was a fuinjutsu technique he had never seen before and one that he would never have thought possible. A small bit of Itachi's chakra was actively circulating within a seal on Sasuke's body. A seal that the older Uchiha brother could have placed there – even at an earlier altercation – without Sasuke's or anyone else's notice, for this seal was unintrusive and had but one specific purpose: it sealed Sasuke's body from Madara's chakra. Oh sure, Madara could still burn Sasuke to a crisp with a Katon technique, he could still trap the young Uchiha in a genjutsu, but Madara could not do the one thing he needed to do right now, which was to send his chakra into the boy and heal him. His hands were just centimetres from the unconscious body, and he could already feel the chakra from the very tips of his fingers moving back towards his palms and away from Sasuke, repelled by the seal.

Madara tried, regardless of this knowledge, to send his chakra into one of Sasuke's wounds and heal it, but his chakra merely hit Sasuke's body and dispersed across it until it reached the ground where it disappeared. Madara swore again and pulled his hands away from the young Uchiha, feeling his chakra flow back into his fingertips.

Madara's plan was ruined! For, if he took Sasuke now, the boy would not survive in his care. Even if he tried to break the seal so the he could administer the necessary medical treatment, there was no guarantee that even with his power, he could do it quickly enough. The boy needed to be healed immediately, and though Madara loathed the thought, it meant that Madara needed to let the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki and his friends find Sasuke. They were only minutes behind him and would reach the boy in time.

Uchiha Madara cursed again. Even after death, Itachi had managed to stand in his way.

"We need to get Itachi's corpse and leave immediately," Madara spoke, his voice ringing loud on the battle site, despite the sounds of Amaterasu's crackling flames and the pouring rain.

"What about Sasuke?" Zetsu's white half asked.

Madara glanced at Zetsu and repressed the anger welling in him. If Madara were a different kind of man, he would have yelled. Instead, he turned his attention away from Zetsu and glared at the offending corpse of Uchiha Itachi.

"We must leave him. He cannot become a tool if he does not survive his injuries," Madara answered evenly, the image of a pink-haired kunoichi flashing in his mind. He knew that she was a competent medic trained under Tsunade after all his research on Naruto and his companions. She could save Sasuke's life easily.

"When will we retrieve him?" Zetsu's black half asked as Madara picked up the corpse of the older Uchiha brother.

"We won't," Madara declared. Yes, he had planned on taking Sasuke with him, but now that he had to leave Sasuke behind he really had no intention of dealing with the small problem of getting him back when his plans could proceed without the Uchiha. And besides...

"I have a feeling he'll come after me soon anyways," Madara continued, with a sneer. Sure, Itachi had beat him with that ridiculous seal that Madara had no clue how to even start breaking, but in one thing he knew Itachi would not disappoint him. Now, Sasuke surely knew of Madara's existence, and Madara knew the boy would seek out the only other Uchiha to take his revenge.

With that thought, Madara disappeared, Zetsu right after him, leaving behind a single bruised and battered body, enclosed by a ring of black flames.

* * *

As they ran through the woods, Sakura wished her mind was entirely focussed on reaching their goal. Instead it was in a state of complete chaos.

She knew she should feel hopeful. After all, they were so close to Sasuke, and this was the best chance they'd ever had: Orochimaru was dead, and if that creepy plant guy was right, Itachi was dead and Sasuke had succeeded in his goal of avenging his clan and was now unconscious. All the obstacles that had been in the way of Sasuke's return to Konoha were gone, and now was their time to bring him home. She was fighting back the hope though, because suddenly a new threat had popped up, a strong enemy with the Sharingan who seemed to have every intention of standing in their way. She needed to hope, but at the same time she needed to guard her heart from further damage.

She shook her head to distance herself from her racing thoughts and spared a glance towards the front of their group to see how Naruto was doing. His face was a mask of pure determination, and she could see the hope he tried to conceal flickering in his eyes. He knew that this was their time too. As her gaze flickered back to the path in front of her, she caught sight of Kiba wrinkling his nose as he sniffed the air.

"I've got the scent!" he yelled so his voice would reach their entire group's ears. "They've already gotten to Sasuke!"

She swore that her heart had stopped beating in her chest, but even so, she kept pushing herself forward. Even though she wasn't next to Naruto, she still heard her friend's grumbling: "Those bastards!"

Not even a minute later, they broke through a patch of forest and Sakura's eyes widened as she took in the black flames dancing along the tops of the nearby trees.

"What's that?" she asked, unable to conceal her awe. She could already feel the heat, never mind the raw power, radiating from the unnaturally dark flames.

"It's one of Itachi's techniques," Naruto answered her.

Everyone began to slow, as they approached the unknown, dangerous fire.

"Yamato!" Kakashi yelled over his shoulder.

"On it, senpai!" Sakura heard Yamato's answer.

She didn't see the seals he made because she was still moving forward, but she saw the earth in front of her rise and split, creating a safe path through the flames.

"Go on without me!" Yamato yelled.

"Alright, everyone else follow me!" Kakashi declared loud enough so that everyone could hear him over the thunderous noise in front of them.

Sakura didn't need to be told twice. She raced after Kakashi, through the ring of flames and into a site where a battle had undoubtedly occurred. The land was in pieces, rocks raised and broken, cracks littering the ground. Here, the rain from the dark cloud above her head fell in violent torrents and the black flames of Amaterasu burned in a full circle around them. And there, lying unconscious on the ground, was Sasuke.

She saw Kakashi stop and take in the scene. Naruto skidded to a stop right behind him, his eyes wide. She couldn't stop though. She kept moving forward towards the only prone body. Sasuke was right in front of her, within her grasp... And he needed her.

She reached his side and knelt on the ground, taking notice of the sticky blood that immediately coated her knees. She wasn't even thinking about her actions anymore, they were instinct. Her hands fluttered along Sasuke's torso as she took inventory of the damage. He was badly wounded and he needed to be stabilized now or she would lose him forever...but he was alive.

'_And I'm going to keep him that way,' _she thought.

Chakra flowed to her hands as she started directing it into Sasuke's body.

"Sakura-chan."

Naruto's voice broke her single-minded concentration for a moment.

She looked up at her teammate, friend, and partner in their promise. He was blurry in her vision and she finally realized that she was crying profusely, tears streaming down her face along with the raindrops. She felt, rather than saw, Naruto crouch down next to her. His arms wrapped around her shoulders as she continued to heal, bringing Sasuke from the brink of death and closer to a stable condition.

"We're...we're...," she choked through her tears. She couldn't finish her sentence, but she didn't have to. Naruto knew what she meant.

"We're bringing him home," Naruto told her, giving her shoulders a squeeze.

She felt his tears fall on her head.

Meanwhile, Sai stood with Hinata, Kiba, Shino, and Kakashi as he watched his two teammates crying over the unconscious Sasuke. The two were happy. They had Sasuke, and they were happy.

"We need to move," Kakashi ordered, apparently beating whatever emotions or thoughts that had held his tongue captive.

Sai nodded in agreement. They couldn't stay near these dangerous flames, and there was always a risk that the Akatsuki member they had been fighting would return, and maybe with friends.

Sakura didn't seem to have heard him though. She was still diligently working on Sasuke's wounds.

"Sakura-chan, he's right. We have to get out of here," Naruto told Sakura as he too became aware of his surroundings.

Sai watched as the flow of chakra from her hands faltered, and then stopped.

"I've barely stabilized his condition," she murmured, though she pulled her hands away.

"Will he make it until we reach the last village we passed through?" Kakashi asked her.

Sakura seemed to be calculating in her head. "As long as I can treat him as soon as we stop," she finally answered her teacher, her voice wavering.

"Kiba," Kakashi called without another moment's hesitation.

Sai knew what Kakashi was thinking. They had all been running for all they were worth to make it here in time, and now they needed to flee the site with the same haste. For one of them to carry Sasuke's deadweight and run would be too much, but Akamaru could do it. Sai watched as Kakashi scooped up Sasuke's large body in his arms, and gently draped the unconscious ninja over Akamaru, quickly tying the boy to the dog's back, while Kiba told Akamaru to be extra careful since Sasuke could not hold on.

"Let's go," Kakashi ordered as soon as he was done.

They all fled through the opening Yamato had created. Sai was the last one to clear the ring of flames, and he felt the passage closing behind him as Yamato relinquished his hold on the earth and joined their running group.

As they continued forward, Sai watched everyone in front of him. He could tell the mood around the group had changed. Now, they were running just as quickly as earlier, but before they had found Sasuke, he could tell that everyone had been desperate, hopeful, and motivated. Now, there was happiness, relief, and triumph in their expressions.

Sakura caught his attention in particular though. She was running right next to Akamaru, Kiba on his dog's other side, with her gaze flickering to the unconscious Sasuke every few steps, and her hands fluttering towards the dog every few seconds as if she was desperate to continue her healing. Though he was only learning about the bonds of friendship, even Sai could see her obvious devotion to the young man.

Sai then turned his attention to Naruto, who was running right behind the pink-haired kunoichi, and oddly enough watching _her_ every step. Sai wondered why Naruto's attention was not on Sasuke, when his friend's return had been the blond's goal for so long, but rapidly understood when he saw Sakura trip while her attention was diverted from the path in front of her and Naruto catch and steady her before she could hit the ground. Naruto laughed as he let her go, and Sai noticed the soft smile on the blond's face.

Somehow, Sai knew that for Naruto, everything right now was perfect.

He felt his own lips twitch into a natural smile and he felt the warm feeling in his chest that Sakura had told him came with happiness. So he was happy then. Happy for his friends' happiness.

* * *

They had continued travelling until they had stumbled into the last village they had passed while chasing after Sasuke. Normally, Yamato would make a shelter for them, but they were all tired and hungry, and they needed the proper rest and meal a village and an inn could provide. Yamato had booked two rooms in the village inn while Kakashi had hidden with Sasuke's battered body outside until he could bring his former student in through an open window. Their group wanted to escape any unnecessary attention.

Since then, Naruto had been watching for the last hour as Sakura worked carefully over their unconscious teammate under his and Sai's watchful eyes. Kakashi was in the next room talking with Yamato, and Hinata, Shino, and Kiba had gone to buy some food to make a proper dinner. They needed and deserved it - they were all tired, but they could take pride in the success of their mission.

Naruto barely noticed when Kakashi strolled back into the room, his hands in his pockets, Yamato right behind him.

"Are you almost done?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto knew the question was directed at Sakura, but she was so focussed on her task that she didn't seem to hear him if her lack of answer was any indication. Naruto answered for her as best as he could: "It looks like she's pretty much healed all of his wounds and she stopped looking so worried about a half hour ago."

His answer coincided with his female teammate's release of her medical ninjutsu.

"That's the most I can do," Sakura said. "His wounds are healed and his condition is completely stable, but he won't wake up until tomorrow at the earliest. His body's exhausted."

Naruto nodded his head. Exhaustion was something he understood well. He then turned to look at Kakashi to see what his take on Sakura's words was, and he froze.

"You did well, Sakura," Kakashi spoke, but Naruto saw the conflict in his teacher's exposed eye. He looked past Kakashi and saw the same look in Yamato's eyes.

Apparently he wasn't the only one.

"What is it Kakashi-sensei? Yamato-sensei?" Sakura asked. "Just tell us."

Kakashi sighed and took a seat on the bed that was not occupied by Sasuke's still form. Yamato leaned up against the wall.

"Though Tsunade-sama has not marked Sasuke for death, he still left the village," Kakashi reminded Naruto and Sakura. "That constitutes a betrayal, even if he never harmed Konoha. He can not return unpunished. Everything can not simply return to the way it was."

Naruto nodded his head. He had always known that things would not be exactly the same when Sasuke came back, but he had never really thought all to much past Sasuke's return. That had always been the most important. To bring Sasuke back. To show him that they cared and that he could have a life in Konoha. To show him that he was important to them and that their bonds were eternal, not something Sasuke could choose to sever.

Naruto looked to Sakura to see her nodding sadly as well, her eyes fixed on the folded hands in her lap. She had probably realized what bringing Sasuke back would mean for the dark haired nin long before he had. She was smarter than him, and more practical.

"Under Tsunade-sama's orders, Sasuke can not be allowed to have access to his power until she says otherwise. And we'll have to seal his chakra now, especially since we don't know how he'll react when he finds himself with us," Kakashi continued. "The seal will prevent him from creating and retaining chakra. Basically, he'll be just like a civilian."

Naruto felt awful. Depriving Sasuke of his ability to mold and manipulate chakra would leave him able to perform only taijutsu. But still Naruto could acknowledge the necessity of the action. It would make it infinitely easier to bring Sasuke back if his best friend resisted. And it was not like Sasuke would bear the seal forever. One day, once everything was settled, they would all be a team again, and Sasuke would be allowed to mold and manipulate his chakra once more. That's what Naruto was counting on. He knew things couldn't be perfect right off the bat even though that's what he wanted, but he was willing to wait and work for their future.

"I'll have to request the power of team seven for this sealing jutsu, though," Kakashi added.

Now Naruto's head shot up, as did Sakura's.

"Kakashi-sensei, I don't know anything about sealing jutsu," Naruto pointed out.

Sakura bobbed her head along with Naruto's statement. "And all I know are the very basics. I could never orchestrate a seal like the one you're describing," she added.

"Don't worry, I'll explain everything. It's really very simple," Kakashi stated. "And I'd really like to do it right now while he's still unconscious. Then we can all have a nice dinner and revel in our success of bringing him home."

Naruto nodded. "I understand. Just tell me what to do," he told Kakashi.

Sakura nodded her head as well.

Sai moved for the door.

"And where do you think you're going, Sai?" Naruto asked. He didn't even think twice about the question.

Sai gave him a blank look. "If you are going to perform a sealing jutsu on Sasuke-kun, then I'll just be in the way over here," he answered.

"Kakashi-sensei said he needed the power of team seven. You are a part of team seven now Sai, whether you like it or not," Naruto declared, glaring at Sai. True, Naruto had not gotten along with the boy when they had first met, and even now Sai had a knack for getting on his nerves, but he was a part of their team, and he had fought to bring Sasuke home right alongside them.

"He's right you know," Sakura said softly. "Just because we got Sasuke-kun back doesn't mean we're going to kick you out."

"Yeah, once a member, always a member," Naruto emphasized. "Same goes for you, Yamato-sensei," Naruto added, turning his attention to the silent man leaning against the wall. Yamato offered him a smile back.

Then Naruto looked to Kakashi, silently urging his sensei to back them up.

"Sit down and join us Sai, Yamato" Kakashi suggested simply. Naruto could see his sensei's eye crinkle as a smile hidden from their eyes came to his lips.

It was Naruto's turn to smile, in spite of what he was about to do to his best friend, when Sai and Yamato complied.

* * *

"Done," Sakura murmured, taking in her team's handiwork. Naruto, Kakashi, Yamato, and Sai had all finished before her and had been waiting on her to finish her part of the intricate seal in her own blood.

Sakura had worked slowly and diligently, making sure every line was perfect, while a war waged in her head. She hated being a part of this and yet was happy to be included all at the same time. She was sealing the power of the man she loved, but she was doing it to bring him home with the rest of her team. Her conflicting emotions had raged, but still Sakura had continued.

After all, she had long known that Sasuke's return would come to something like this.

Her dream had always been that Sasuke would willingly return to Konoha, admit his mistakes, and then all would be forgiven. But she had grown up since then. She now knew how impossible her dream really was. There was no way Sasuke could just walk back into Konoha and be reassigned to their team. She didn't even know if that's what he'd want now that Itachi was dead, though she couldn't imagine what else was left for him in the world now if not their team and the bonds they shared.

"Good," Kakashi told her as she settled into a kneeling position outside of their bloody markings like the rest of them. Then he addressed the entire group. "Together now."

They made the hand seals Kakashi had told them to make in perfect synchronization, with fingers still dripping with their own blood. With the last seal, they slammed their hands down on the edges of their handiwork. Sakura watched as the characters written in their blood started moving across the floor, all climbing onto Sasuke's neck where they formed a band that circled it. As the last of the characters slipped into the darkening ring around Sasuke's neck, Sakura saw the band fade into his skin, leaving behind only five evenly spaced characters - one for each of them that had participated.

"Remember," Kakashi explained as they stared at Sasuke's still form, "to make the seal, we relied on our combined strength and will. So, only together will we be able to remove it when the time comes."

_'Did you hear that, Sasuke-kun? Together,' _Sakura thought. _'We've fought for you together and together we're going to keep fighting. I only hope that when you wake up you see that you belong here too.'_

* * *

He was lying on what could only be a bed. That was the first thing he realized through his hazy state of semi-consciousness. The second thing he realized was that he was alive, because he was too sore and tired to be dead.

And then his eyes shot open.

The ceiling above his head clearly indicated that he was inside a building somewhere. The big question was where. He tried to push himself into a sitting position to get a better view of his surroundings and found that he couldn't. So instead, he made the effort to lift his head and saw that his wrists, as well as his ankles, were tightly bound together by restraints. He also saw a young man with bright blond hair and a wide smile sitting cross-legged by his feet.

"So you're finally awake, Sasuke."

And with those simple words, Sasuke, even with his restrained arms and legs, automatically sprung into a sitting position, taking in his surroundings. He was in a simple room with two double beds, a couch, a television, and a kitchenette. He could see the open door to a small bathroom and four backpacks settled around the room.

He turned his gaze back to Naruto, who he could recognize instantly in spite of his sleep addled thoughts, and finally noticed the other two men standing at the end of the bed behind the blond. One he immediately recognized as his former sensei Kakashi, the other took him a moment longer to place as he searched his hazy mind, finally remembering his replacement, Sai. The first words out of his mouth were nothing more than a reflex.

"Where's Sakura?"

Naruto's smile grew even bigger if that was possible.

"She's next door with Hinata-chan. We're letting her sleep in a little. She deserves it. She saved your life you know," Naruto explained cheerily.

Saved his life? The phrase was like a keyword, unlocking the events in his memory.

"Itachi?" he asked next, his voice wavering slightly.

"You're done, Sasuke. He's dead," Naruto answered him sombrely, the grin now gone.

Itachi's face, eyes closed, spotted with blood, and clear of emotion, swam before Sasuke's eyes as he remembered the image of his brother's still body lying on the ground in front of him. Itachi was dead. He was dead. The brother he had chased for so long was gone from this world and his family was avenged.

"You were badly wounded when we found you," Naruto continued talking when Sasuke said nothing. "Sakura-chan fixed you up good though. If it weren't for her, you might be dead too."

Still, Sasuke said nothing. His eyes were directed at the group of three people at the end of his bed, but they were not focussed on them. He was seeing past them. Itachi was dead. He should feel something, shouldn't he? He had accomplished his life's goal. His brother was dead by his hands. He felt nothing. Not even the anger that had burned within him for years.

Sasuke didn't see the glance that Naruto shared with Kakashi. The blond boy tried again.

"Sasuke, we're taking you back to Konoha. You're done. It's time to come home," Naruto continued.

Home. Unbidden memories of his life at home flooded Sasuke's mind. Not the nightmares of that horrible night that had plagued him for years, but the happier memories of his childhood that he had almost forgotten. As they flashed across his mind, he realized the source of some of his happiest moments was Itachi.

"I mean, you won't get off without some kind of punishment, but it'll be alright. You'll see. Tsunade baa-chan will figure something out, and things will be able to return to normal," Naruto babbled on nervously. Sasuke was still completely unresponsive.

"That's enough, Naruto," Kakashi told his most energetic student, laying a hand on his shoulder, realizing they were getting nowhere.

Naruto sighed. Sasuke's face hadn't betrayed a single emotion, though Naruto could only imagine all the thoughts that could be running through his friend's head. A sudden knock on the door distracted him from his musings.

"Guys, I'm coming in," Sakura's voice sounded from behind the closed door. As the knob turned and Sakura opened the door, she continued: "I accidentally shoved my toothbrush in Sai's bag when I was redistributing our supplies last night. Thanks for letting me sleep in by the way, I really-"

Her words were cut off as her eyes landed on Sasuke, awake and sitting up in bed.

She moved faster than Naruto had ever seen her move before. Before he could blink, she was kneeling on the bed next to Sasuke, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, tears falling from her eyes onto his bare shoulders.

"You're awake. You're okay, and you're awake, and you're here," she mumbled through her tears, dissolving into a fresh round of happy sobs.

The tears on Sasuke's bare skin and the pink hair tickling his face pulled Sasuke out of the memories of his childhood and brought another memory he had almost forgotten to the forefront of his mind.

He remembered his limbs feeling heavy, having difficulty opening his eyes, the feel of water dripping onto his bare skin, and most clearly, her voice. He remembered how the beating of his heart had picked up speed from its deathlike slowness, and how her sobs and murmuring had pulled him from the darkness. He remembered opening his eyes and he remembered that she was the first thing he saw. He also remembered his first words to her.

"Sakura... you're heavy."

As the words slipped out of his mouth with all the ease they had back then, he became fully aware of the girl clinging to him for all she was worth, and the three men staring at him, Naruto with particularly wide eyes.

Though Naruto was the only one whose expression betrayed his feelings, all three men were shocked to some level.

Kakashi had watched Sasuke's unresponsiveness to Naruto's words and their presence, and he had felt awful for his student. Kakashi could easily imagine what was going on in Sasuke's head. The older nin had made his prediction before Sasuke had left and was sure that Sasuke was now feeling the emptiness he had warned the boy would come with his success. Kakashi could only hope that it wasn't too late for Sasuke to be spared from further hurt and suffering. Sasuke still had a chance to live his life because even though he had tried to alienate them, Naruto and Sakura were still fighting for him.

And just maybe, that was getting through to him.

That was the only conclusion Kakashi could draw from Sasuke's reaction to Sakura's hug. Somehow she had managed to extract a response from the unresponsive young man. Her actions had done what Naruto's words could not. And hadn't the first words to leave his lips upon his waking proved that he was still very aware of them - he had immediately asked where she was.

While Kakashi thought through this development, Sasuke felt Sakura's body stiffen, but she didn't let go of him. Then all of a sudden, she released her hold on him and sat back on her heels, staring into his eyes as if she were searching for something there, her face tear stained, but blank. He made no move to break the eye contact, wondering in spite of the entire situation, what could possibly be going on in the kunoichi's mind.

The echo of a resounding slap and the stinging pain in his left cheek were the only indications that she had moved.

"That time... You intended to kill Naruto," she whispered. "And you intended to kill me."

Kakashi, Naruto, and even Sai watched this new development with dumbstruck faces. They had expected her happiness, after all, Sasuke would be returning home with them. None of them had expected this. Especially not Sasuke.

He hadn't thought it possible, but his every thought of the past and Itachi was pushed completely aside as he fixed his attention on Sakura in front of him. A Sakura who had hit him... And it was like a switch was flicked in his brain. He was with his former teammates, caught and restrained. All of Naruto's words that he had heard but not bothered to process replayed in his head. They were taking him back to Konoha. But what was left for him there? The answer was nothing. He had nothing there – especially since he had cut his bonds with his teammates when he had left.

He had avenged his clan, but the question was now what? He searched his mind for something...anything that he had planned to do when it was all done. It was like sifting through mud... Hadn't there been a second part to his goal? It came to him in a sudden rush, long forgotten as his anger at Itachi and his own weakness, and his need to avenge his clan had consumed him. He had wanted to revive his clan as well. Did he still want that? Yes. And if he wanted to do it the right way, he needed to revive his clan in the place they had helped build and protect – Konoha.

Sakura was still kneeling in front of him, and he was still watching her. Her face was angry, sad, and expectant all at the same time, like she was waiting for some kind of reaction or admission from him. Was she hoping he would deny it? That fit with the Sakura he remembered, but she hadn't been asking him if he had been intending to kill her – she had pointed it out as fact. What was she waiting to hear, then?

"That's true," he finally answered her. It was the easiest answer and the only one he was willing to give. At that moment he had intended to kill her and Naruto to prove that his old relationships were nothing and had no hold over him. But afterwards, he had realized that despite his intentions...his _conviction_ to kill them...he really couldn't have done it, he was still weak. He shoved the thought away just as he had back then.

Sasuke had yet to take his eyes off of Sakura. He saw her nod her head, smiling weakly, like this was the answer she had been expecting from him. He was surprised she wasn't crying anymore.

"And I still want to bring you back home," she finally managed, now shaking her head and letting a short, humourless laugh. "I'm stupid."

"You're not stupid, Sakura-chan!" Naruto protested, having remained silent this long only in his complete and utter shock of Sakura slapping Sasuke. "If you weren't as smart and as talented as you are, Sasuke wouldn't even be here right now."

And there it was again. Something else Sasuke had barely registered before but that was now weighing down heavily on him. "You healed me? How?" he asked her matter of factly. His eyes were still locked on her face, though now her head was turned down, her eyes staring at the right hand she had used to slap him.

It was Naruto who answered for her. "She trained as a medic under Tsunade baa-chan, Sasuke," Naruto stated simply. Then he couldn't help but brag about Sakura some more: "And she can throw a punch like nobody else. You owe her your life."

"Naruto," Sakura warned, turning to the blond.

Sasuke's mind was racing yet again. When he had passed out, he had felt his life slipping away from him. He wanted to doubt what Naruto was saying, but he could still feel the soreness of his wounds and knew that if they had not been healed, he would probably be dead along with Itachi. And who else could have done it, and why would they lie?

He wanted a glimpse of her eyes and see if he could see the truth in them, but she now refused to meet his gaze.

After that, no one said anything for the next few minutes and no one moved. Sasuke's mind started to turn to topics further and further away from the people in front of him, and back towards what he had just done. He spent a moment wondering what had happened to Juugo, Suigetsu, and Karin before turning back to Itachi. He should feel more than nothing – there was no relief, no more anger, and no satisfaction – but he couldn't focus on that at present. He needed to sort out what was going on right now.

As if reading Sasuke's thoughts, Kakashi's voice finally broke the silence.

"Sasuke," Kakashi spoke, and Sasuke made himself turn his stare from the only female in the room. "You will be returning to Konoha under our guard where the Godaime will give you your sentence," Kakashi explained. "Furthermore, your ability to use your chakra has been sealed, so if you were thinking about it, trying to escape will be futile. And even if you were to manage it, you wouldn't be able to access your chakra ever again – the seal is unbreakable for anyone other than its maker."

As soon as Kakashi told him about the seal, Sasuke tried to reach for his chakra and found he could not control it. It was still flowing through him, but he could not access it or create anymore. He glared murderously at Kakashi. Without his chakra he felt weak and almost naked.

And then he fully realized his situation.

He now had no choice. It didn't matter what else he may have come up with on his own. They had made his decision for him, and he was returning to Konoha.

Sasuke wasn't sure how he felt about that. He wasn't sure how he felt about anything. Still, he couldn't say that returning to Konoha was necessarily a bad thing.


	2. The Return Home

Disclaimer: It's here.

Authoress' Notes: Well, quite a few people put this on their alert's, but I didn't get any reviews. I'll assume that those of you who are reading this liked it, or were intrigued by it, but I could really use some feedback. I still have a few more chapters ready for posting and I want to know if this is something I should try to dedicate my time to if I have some free time during the remainder of the school year.

* * *

**Chapter 2 - The Return Home  
**

* * *

Sasuke had turned back to silence once Kakashi had explained to him the situation. Naruto had tried to talk to Sasuke some more, but it was no use. The Uchiha remained stoic. So, Sakura had climbed off the bed, had rummaged through Sai's bag to find her toothbrush, and had then returned to the room next door where she had spent the night to get ready for their journey home without a glance backwards.

Upon entering the second room they had rented, Sakura saw Hinata packing up in silence. She had roomed with Kiba, Shino, and the quiet Hyuuga last night so that her and Hinata could share a bed - Yamato, Kakashi, Naruto, and Sai had stayed with Sasuke.

"Where are the boys?" Sakura asked when she noticed that the reason the room was so quiet was that Shino and Kiba were nowhere in sight.

"They left with Yamato-san to go buy some more food for us to take on the road. Yamato-san and Kaksashi-san decided that we shouldn't waste time foraging for food on the way home," Hinata replied as she folded a shirt. If she had looked up, she would have seen Sakura's tear stained face and tired eyes.

"Smart idea," Sakura responded simply.

Then, without another word, she headed towards the bathroom, her toothbrush in hand. Once she reached it, she closed the door behind her and got to work, occupying herself with the task of cleaning her teeth, hoping that would keep her thoughts at bay. She really should have known that such a mundane chore wouldn't occupy her mind at all.

She had slapped Sasuke.

She couldn't believe it herself, and she was sure she had stunned Naruto and Kakashi - maybe even Sai. It was just...as soon as she had heard him speak those familiar words, her entire past had come at her like a wave, crashing over her and soaking her in memories. She had remembered when she had first started crushing on Sasuke as a child, all the happy times she had had with team seven, when Sasuke had left and she had realized she was well and truly in love with him, all her training with Tsunade... And she had remembered the first time she had seen Sasuke in years.

As much as she wanted to deny it, she knew she had seen an intent to kill in his eyes - and he had just admitted it to her! - but she still couldn't understand why. What had they done besides try to be there for him? Why had he acted that way? Had he really changed so much in his very core? He had once protected them ferociously - were whatever feelings he had for them really gone like he had claimed?

Her toothbrush clattered into the sink and she raised her hands to cover her eyes and keep the tears that threatened from falling. Her face was already blotchy – she didn't need to make it worse.

The exact reason she had slapped Sasuke was because that last memory – the failed retrieval mission with Yamato, Sai, and Naruto – was just painful for her to relive...even more so than the night he had left Konoha, because at least then she had still known who he was. Now, he was not allowed to sit there and say the same words he had when she was twelve like nothing had happened, like nothing had changed. Not when he had come at her and Naruto with an intent to kill.

_That's true, _Sasuke had said in response to her accusations. She knew those words should have cut her deep, turned her away from him, made her hate him even. If she were another girl with shallower feelings, they probably would have. But her feelings weren't shallow in the least. Her heartfelt words at the age of twelve were even more true now that she understood herself and could stand on her own two feet as a proud kunoichi. She didn't love him because he was attractive. She didn't love him because he was one of the few boys she had really gotten to know. She didn't love him because he appeared so perfect. She loved him because he was Sasuke - her silently caring, protective, competitive, hard working, strong, sometimes arrogant, sweet-hating, tomato-loving, smirking teammate.

Her anger had been short lived. It had passed as quickly as it had come because it didn't matter what he had done – she loved Sasuke regardless. What had she said to him? _I still want to bring you back home_? What she had really wanted to say was that she still loved him. She _was_ stupid. But even if it seemed like she was fighting a losing battle, she couldn't just stop feeling what she felt.

If they could just find their way back to being teammates and friends, Sakura would be content. Yes, their last encounter had given her doubts about his feelings for them and how much he'd changed, but today she had found reasons to have hope. When Sasuke had glared at Kakashi, it was the same glare from when they were twelve. When he had spoken those familiar words, it proved he hadn't forgotten them and their experiences. And when he had looked right at her, she swore that she could see parts of the old Sasuke just beneath the surface of this hardened version of himself.

She sighed heavily and tried to make her mind go blank. All of this was making her dizzy and she needed to have a clear head for the journey home. Anyways, all that really mattered was that Sasuke was coming back and he would be living in Konoha again, and her and Naruto, who had both fought so hard for Sasuke, would continue to fight until he was willing to accept their bonds, even if it took the rest of their lives.

Sakura caught sight of her face in the mirror and grimaced. She looked awful.

She grabbed her toothbrush out of the sink and turned the water on so she could rinse it. Then she placed it aside and splashed the cold water on her face to wash her tear stained cheeks and make her more alert. When she was done, she closed the taps and studied her face in the mirror. She still looked tired, but at least it was better than before.

Sakura then combed her fingers through her hair and noted that it had grown out past her shoulders. She frowned. Ever since she had cut her hair in her first chunin exam she had kept it short - it felt wrong to grow it out again, to turn back into the girl she had been before.

"Hinata!" Sakura called as she opened the bathroom door. "Can you toss me the scissors from my medical pouch?"

"Sure, Sakura," Hinata answered as she walked over to Sakura's things and carefully rummaged for the scissors. "May I ask why?"

"I want to cut my hair," Sakura answered, tugging on the ends. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed how long it had gotten before. In her defence she had been really busy as of late. Tsunade had been increasing Sakura's hours at the hospital to make up for the fewer hours that she and Shizune now spent there, occupied as they were with the Hokage's duties. Not that Sakura terribly minded – she loved playing such an active role in _saving_ people's lives.

"Would you like any help?" Hinata asked as she extracted the small scissors from the bag. "I'm already done packing."

Sakura smiled gratefully at Hinata. "That would be great. It's hard to make the back look nice when I cut it myself."

Sakura walked back into their room and took a seat on their bed as Hinata climbed on and took a seat behind her and started clipping. The two girls sat in a comfortable silence while Hinata worked. Sakura trusted her fellow kunoichi to do a good job. It's not like this was something new for them. A warm smile came to her lips as she remembered the first time.

Before Naruto had returned to Konoha with Jiraiya, Tsunade had made her complete at _least_ a mission a month during her two and a half years of intense training with either Team Kurenai, Team Asuma, or Team Gai to help her flesh out her field experience. A five man cell wasn't ideal, but it wasn't a troublesome hazard, and not only had she learned how to use her techniques in the field, but also how to work with all kinds of people.

This rotation between teams was also the reason she could claim to actually be friends with every member of those teams. She had spent enough time with each person to actually get to know them on some kind of personal level. Her and Hinata had especially spent a lot of time together as Sakura had most often found herself working with Kurenai's team. That was why her and Hinata were so comfortable together now.

One mission in particular had completely closed the rift between them though. On a mission to retrieve a medical scroll for Tsunade from a nearby civilian village, they had encountered a lost child who had wandered away from the small civilian town. They were only twenty minutes out from the village and Sakura had offered to give the crying boy a piggy back to cheer him up some – while she had carried him, she hadn't noticed when the boy had pulled out a piece of pink gum from his mouth and had shoved it into her hair to see if it would match. When they had returned the boy to his very grateful mother and had picked up the scroll, they had gone to an inn to crash for the night before heading home. It was then, during her shower, that Sakura had found the gum.

With a certain fondness, she remembered how loud she had screamed – looking back on the event, it was funny, but at the time she had been livid. Hinata and Kurenai had immediately rushed into the bathroom to see what was wrong and Sakura had pointed glumly to the pink gum tangled in her equally pink locks. Once she had gotten over her initial shock, anger, and then laughter, she had sighed loudly and asked if she could borrow a kunai. Hinata had offered the kunai, and then, surprisingly, to cut her hair.

As the two girls had sat in the bathroom in a comfortable silence, something had simply changed. No, they hadn't magically become best friends, but the moment was so natural and easy that in it, their relationship had shifted away from that of mere acquaintances. After that, her and Hinata had talked easily when together and had even met up outside of missions to get to know each other better.

Now, as they sat on the bed, the same sort of comfortable silence around them, Sakura was very glad that she had a friend like Hinata with whom she could just sit and not talk without feeling awkward. This sort of calm would be impossible with Ino.

She was surprised when Hinata announced quietly: "I'm done. If you want me to fix anything just let me know."

"Okay, but you know I'll have no complaints. You've always done a good job," Sakura pointed out as she turned around, preparing to clean up the pink hair on the bed. After that first time, Hinata had often helped Sakura trim her hair.

"I'll take care of that. Don't worry," Hinata told her before promptly getting to work on the mess. "You still need to pack and get ready to leave."

"I knew I forgot something," Sakura mumbled under her breath before sighing. She had been so caught up with her thoughts of Sasuke and then her thoughts of the past that she had completely forgot her reason for waking up. As soon as Yamato, Kiba, and Shino were back, it was time to go.

Time to bring Uchiha Sasuke back to Konoha.

* * *

Sasuke's eyes were fixed on the ground in front of him as he walked along, having no other choice – it was walk on his own or be dragged by Naruto. It's not like he could even fight back. His wrists were still shackled, though his feet were now free, and he had no usable chakra. His concentration on the ground below him grew as he refused to look anywhere else. Still, even though he could avoid looking at the people with him, he couldn't block out their chatter.

"Can't we stop to eat now, Kakashi-sensei? I'm hungry!"

Sasuke could identify Naruto's whining tone almost too easily. A response came to his lips in an instant. "Idiot," he mumbled under his breath, so quietly that no one heard him.

They had been on the road for five hours, and already Sasuke could feel the annoying familiarity of the situation tugging at something within him. He shook his head, keeping his gaze firmly on the ground. He had severed his bonds with his teammates...or so he had told himself over and over. So why did Naruto's normal antics make him feel so comfortable when thoughts of finally achieving his revenge brought nothing but a feeling of emptiness – even his anger was now gone.

He let out a frustrated growl that was masked by more of Naruto's yelling. The blond nin was a few feet to Sasuke's left, and his shouts were unignorable.

"Naruto! Shut up!" Sakura eventually yelled back, her irritation clear in her voice.

She was further away from him, walking between Kiba and Akamaru at the front of the formation. Right behind the three front scouts was Kakashi, followed by Sasuke. Naruto was on Sasuke's left, while Sai was on his right. Yamato was at his back, and Shino and Hinata walked together at the end of the line with the job of rear scouts.

He was safely in the middle of them all where he couldn't get away. Not that he had any intention of trying to escape. He had nowhere to go, and even if he got away, his chakra would still be sealed. Between that knowledge and his own renewed acknowledgement of reviving his clan, he had resolved to go to Konoha and see if he could make some sort of life there.

"We'll stop when Kakashi says so," Sakura continued in a patronizing tone.

"Let's stop."

It was Kakashi's declaration, and it brought their group to an immediate halt, and made Sakura squawk in annoyance.

"We'll just get off the main path," the jounin continued, "then we'll eat and get going. If we keep this pace, then we can reach Konoha just before nightfall."

Sasuke moved to follow everyone else, knowing that if he didn't he would just be tugged along by Naruto. He took a seat on the ground as the rest of them did, feeling Yamato take a seat a few feet at his back. Meanwhile, Naruto came to sit right next to him. Sasuke didn't turn his eyes from the cuffed hands in his lap.

"You know Sasuke, you were really a jerk to leave. And you were even more of a jerk that time we found you. But I forgive you," Naruto said simply.

Sasuke said nothing.

"I mean, I understand how you wanted to avenge your family so badly, and how you were so angry and frustrated, but now you're done. You have no more reasons to run from our friendship," Naruto added before lapsing into silence.

Sasuke bit back his growl of frustration. There it was again! That feeling of comfort. He couldn't deny it anymore. He had never severed his bonds, he had just deluded himself into thinking that he had because it had been necessary to help him keep his focus set on the path he had to take.

"Sasuke-kun, this is for you."

Sasuke's head lifted up from his lap automatically at the sound of her voice, his dark eyes focussing on the kunoichi crouched down in front of him. Sakura was offering him a store bought bento, a soft smile on her face. He took it without any thanks and Sakura just nodded her head before standing up and walking over to Hinata's side where she took a seat and began eating her own lunch.

"She forgives you too, you know."

Naruto was speaking again and this time Sasuke turned to look at his former teammate. Naruto was already eating, digging into his bento with gusto, but his face didn't bear his usual enormous grin. Instead Naruto looked calm and relaxed.

"We're both just glad we've finally caught up to you and that you're alive," Naruto continued after chewing a mouthful of rice.

They were still so accepting of him even after he had treated them like dirt. Unbidden, the words Kakashi had told them when they had passed his test and become a real team came to his mind: _those who don't take care of their comrades are lower than trash_. He hadn't taken care of them at all – he had abandoned them, and yet they had still chased after him and were still willing to take him back. Again he didn't know what to feel.

* * *

After their quick lunch, they resumed their walk back to Konoha in the same formation. Now Sasuke had his eyes glued to Kakashi's back instead of the ground, and he could just see flashes of Naruto on his left, and Sakura up ahead. Thankfully, Naruto had quieted down now that his stomach had been filled, but that only meant that Sasuke could hear the only two people presently conversing very clearly.

"Hey!" Sakura's tone was teasing. "At least _I _didn't lose to my teammate in the chunin exam!"

As Kakashi took another step forward, Sasuke was given a glimpse of Kiba sticking his tongue out at Sakura. "Yeah, well that's only because you had to fight _Ino_," Kiba protested.

"First of all, Ino's a lot stronger and smarter than you give her credit for. Second, you seem to be forgetting something there, puppy. I fought Shino too," Sakura pointed out. "And I won."

"Only because he was already exhausted from _my_ fight with him!" Kiba insisted.

Sakura snorted. "Shino?" she called back over her shoulder, and Sasuke caught a glimpse of her happy face. "Were you really so exhausted from your fight with Kiba when we fought in the chunin exam?"

"Sorry, Kiba. I was no worse off than Sakura at the beginning of our match," Shino answered simply from behind his collar.

"And there you go. So build a bridge and get over it princess. What does it really matter anyways, you still ended up making chunin too," Sakura said with finality turning back to Kiba.

As Kiba made some retort, Sasuke found himself contemplating this new information while they continued walking, finding it a fairly safe subject to focus his attention on. Sakura was apparently a chunin now – that much he could garner from what he had heard of the conversation. She could also heal what he was sure had been fatal wounds, and she had apparently beaten Shino in the chunin exams. When had she gotten the strength to do any of that?

It was at that moment that he felt three chakras coming at them from the front. Everyone else seemed to notice it too if their halted walking and stiff postures were any indication. Sasuke now openly watched as Kiba and Akamaru sniffed the air.

"They're the same scents that were at the site of the explosion," Kiba declared after a second. "And they're closing in fast."

"Who were you travelling with, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked him without turning around.

Sasuke didn't answer. It would seem Team Hebi had looked for him and found him – something unsurprising given Karin's abilities. Truthfully, he hadn't really thought of what would happen to the team he had created after killing Itachi because he hadn't been able to think of his life past that point. His last three years had been spent training and planning for that one moment. Now that the moment had passed, all he knew was that he no longer needed them.

"Be on guard," Kakashi ordered, not skipping a beat in light of Sasuke's non-answer. "Sasuke," the jounin added in a quieter voice so only Sasuke could hear him, "don't forget the seal."

Kakashi was reminding him that running away would not be to his benefit. Sasuke idly wondered if Kakashi would believe him if he said that he had no such intentions and that he was almost grudgingly finding himself more and more willing to go back to Konoha... Probably not easily – Kakashi was less blind in his trust than Naruto and Sakura. His old teammates on the other hand would probably be overjoyed to hear something like that.

A few seconds later, three ninja burst out of the trees and onto the path in front of them. Karin, Suigetsu, and Juugo looked prepared for a fight.

"Let Sasuke-kun come with us and no one will get hurt," Karin declared.

Sakura was still right at the front of the group sandwiched between Akamaru and Kiba, but Sasuke watched as she clenched her fists and then took a bold step forward, putting herself in front of the whole group. Then she laughed humourlessly. "I'm sorry. Sasuke-kun is coming home right now," she declared. "As for me, I really just want to get back to my apartment and my comfy bed, so if you would be so kind as to clear the path..." And with that she launched herself forward, her right fist coming up.

Sasuke watched as no one made to stop Sakura's rash movement. He was confused. What was going on? As Sakura came within feet of Team Hebi, who looked completely prepared to retaliate to whatever Sakura did, she stopped suddenly. And then her fist came to the ground, shattering the earth in front of her. Juugo, Suigetsu, and Karin had to jump to the side of the road to avoid the destruction.

Sasuke could only stare. He had never seen Sakura's new strength before and it was shocking to think the weak girl in his memories could do _that_. What exactly had happened while he was gone?

"Sakura. You should really be less destructive. It's not an attractive quality in a woman," Kiba pointed out in a bland voice, clearly unimpressed by the display before him.

"I was just clearing the trash off the road," Sakura answered just as unaffectedly without turning her green orbs from the three Team Hebi members.

She wasn't unaffected though. Inside, a new cut to her heart was being made. Sasuke really had formed a team. What the hell? She hadn't wanted to believe it before, but now she couldn't ignore that reality any longer. Her hope took another blow. Maybe Sasuke really had cut all ties with her and Naruto. Why else would he go form a new team? He couldn't be unaware that her and Naruto had been willing to help him.

She shook her head to clear the thoughts. The enemy was still in front of her and she couldn't afford to be distracted. As her attention focussed back on the group of three nin, she was startled to notice the biggest one clutching his head in his hands as if he was in pain, and his skin darkening. The other two were slowly moving back.

"Crap," the white haired one murmured. "He's going to go berserk."

What was going on?

Sasuke knew all too well what was happening. Juugo was in the midst of succumbing to one of his rages, and in his current state, Sasuke couldn't stop it. Both Karin and Suigetsu had already stepped back, making Sakura the closest person to Juugo.

"Sakura, get back!"

As the words slipped out of his mouth, Sasuke noted that his feelings for his old teammates were hardly buried deep anymore where he could pretend that they didn't exist. He had only spent a few hours in their presence, and armed only with the knowledge that his revenge no longer tied him down, those feelings had broken free of the chains he had locked them up with. His warning to Sakura had been automatic.

He watched as confusion flashed across Sakura's face before she listened to him and leaped backwards, putting distance between herself and the team he had put together to help him find Itachi. With his chakra sealed, he didn't think he could stop Juugo – not when he couldn't even use his Sharingan. In an instant an idea came to him. He couldn't use the Sharingan...but someone else could.

"Kakashi, you have to show him your Sharingan," Sasuke told his teacher, hoping that Kakashi would listen to him.

The jounin contemplated Sasuke for a second before he nodded and slipped his forehead protector up onto his head, exposing his Sharingan, and appeared at Juugo's side. Juugo was about to completely snap, and was muttering about how he would kill all of them loud enough for Sasuke to hear. Sasuke watched as the man looked up at Kakashi, murderous intent in his eyes. There was a tense moment, and then Juugo caught sight of the Sharingan and froze.

"Stop, Juugo," Sasuke ordered from his spot. His voice was cold and left no room for argument.

The combination of the Sharingan and Sasuke's voice seemed to do it. The darkening across Juugo's skin faded to nothing and the large man fell to the ground in a sitting position, his head cradled in his hands.

"I'm dangerous. I never should have left," Juugo murmured in a continuous stream under his breath.

Kakashi stared at the large man curiously. Whatever had taken over the man in front of him had looked like the effects of the cursed seal, and yet the sight of the Sharingan and Sasuke's voice were enough to push it back. Just who was this?

"Sasuke-kun!" It was Karin's voice, whining and high pitched. "You could have at least stopped him after he dispatched of these leaf nin."

Sasuke caught the withering glare Naruto shot at Karin. Sasuke came to the decision that he should stop this now before it got too troublesome and a fight broke out. He needed to make things clear to the members of Team Hebi.

"I am returning to Konoha," he answered Karin. "Team Hebi has accomplished its goal and can now be dissolved."

Karin's sharp intake of breath was audible because everyone else was silent in light of Sasuke's words. He had said that he was returning to Konoha. It was the first time he had commented on his capture at all, and he made it sound like it was all his own intention.

Naruto couldn't help the grin that came to his face. Sasuke had said he was returning and it sounded like he had made that decision all on his own and that he hadn't been forced into it. Naruto had always known that Sasuke hadn't really severed their ties – after all, Sasuke hadn't managed to kill them in spite of his so-called intention to do so. He was just a stubborn jerk who had let himself be consumed by anger and revenge – though Naruto could now begin to understand how losing your entire family at the hands of your brother could make you feel. After all, not only had he experienced the loneliness of being without a family, but he had also felt the pain of loss when Sasuke, the closest thing he had to a brother, had left. Now that Sasuke's revenge was complete though, it seemed the buried bonds were resurfacing all on their own and the anger that had consumed him was fading without a target.

Sakura didn't grin, but she felt as though someone had placed a chakra filled hand on her heart and healed a good portion of its injuries. Again, he was giving her reason to hope. He had warned her much like he would have when they were genin, and he had said he was returning to Konoha as if it was his choice. She knew what she wanted to believe more than anything. That Sasuke was willing to come back and give them a chance. But it couldn't be that easy. They had been apart for a long time, and she still wasn't sure how much he had changed even if she was seeing flashes of the Sasuke that was familiar to her.

"Sasuke-kun!" Karin finally whined some more, placing her hands on her hips. "And what are we supposed to do?" she finally asked.

"Didn't you have business to attend to?" It was Suigestsu who answered Karin's question with a sneer and a laugh. "I mean, I know what I'm going to do. I didn't get my crack at Kisame – some creepy plant dude came and said that the fight was over and that everything was taken care of, and then they both just left. Of course, by the time we got there, you were gone and it took us until now to find you," Suigetsu continued, directing his attention to Sasuke. "I guess I'll just have to track him down on my own now."

"Well what about Juugo?" Karin asked instead, pointing to the man still sitting on the ground his head hanging down. "You told him you'd act as his prison. That you would stop him if he tried to kill anyone. Suigetsu and I aren't going to watch him, and it'll be on your hands if he kills anyone."

Sasuke had always avoided needless killing, a trait which Suigetsu and Karin had been witness to, and he knew that if they left Juugo alone, Juugo would undoubtedly go on to harm more people, and it would be his fault. He was the one who had made him leave his prison...and Juugo couldn't just be left on his own or he would submit to his rage and he would destroy...and then feel horrible about it all afterwards. Sasuke had meant the words he had spoken to Juugo when he had recruited him, though Sasuke could no longer identify the motivation behind them. He needed some kind of solution, and only one seemed to present itself. Sasuke mentally prepared to ask Kakashi if Juugo could come to Konoha when a clear voice rang out in the silence.

While all this was going through Sasuke's mind, Sakura was taking in the situation with her clinical eyes. From her observations of the large man and the brief conversation around her, she had concluded that he had entered into his murderous state without conscious choice and she had seen on her own how horrified he seemed to be by his own change. And the way it had come over him almost reminded her of how the curse seal had grabbed hold of Sasuke. It was like someone had dropped the pieces of a puzzle before her, all ready to be assembled with a little work.

"You can't help it, can you?" Sakura asked, her voice sad.

Sasuke turned his head to look at her and saw her walking forwards toward Juugo.

"Sakura," Kakashi said hesitantly. He still stood close to Juugo and the other two members of Team Hebi, watching them carefully, his Sharingan still exposed.

"It's okay Kakashi-sensei. I'll be fine," she answered confidently as she walked past him.

Kakashi finally nodded wearily, and let her go. Sasuke knew Juugo wouldn't enter into a rage again so soon, but even he was a little apprehensive. This just said more about how quickly his old feelings were resurfacing. It made him feel weak that his old resolve was so easily shattering.

Sakura had reached Juugo and was now crouched down in front of him.

"Hey. I'm Sakura. What's your name?" she murmured.

When he didn't answer, Suigetsu did: "He's Juugo, I'm Suigetsu, and the cranky one over there is Karin."

"Hey, Juugo," Sakura tried again. "Hey. Look at me." When he didn't, she grabbed the hands that covered his face and pulled them away, holding them in her own much smaller hands.

"That's better," she murmured. "Now, clearly you didn't change on your own accord. Do you know what causes you to change?"

Juugo didn't answer her.

Sasuke did.

"The change is random and it's caused by an enzyme in his system," he told her.

"Well then, that's good," Sakura proclaimed happily, tightening her grip on Juugo's hands. Sasuke watched the big man look up with utter confusion on his face. A quick look at the Konoha nin to see their reactions to Sakura's proclamation revealed that everyone was just as confused as Juugo was. _He_ was just as confused as Juugo was.

"Why is that good?" Juugo finally managed to ask.

"A problem with an enzyme is something I can potentially fix," Sakura said with a smile. "I can't promise you anything, but if you come to Konoha I know that I have a good chance of finding some way to counter its effects. Especially with Tsunade-sama's help. What do you think?"

"Pfft," Karin smirked. "Like you can help him! I mean, Orochimaru couldn't–"

"That's because he didn't try!" Sakura yelled, standing up and whirling around to face Karin, her face clearly betraying her anger. Karin took a step back, shock coming to her face, and Sasuke could only wonder what the redhead was seeing in Sakura's chakra that would cause such a reaction. "Do you think I'm stupid enough to believe that Orochimaru would actually help someone? Or too stupid that I couldn't put together the puzzle pieces? The enzyme must be the basis of the curse seal – like that snake bastard would have ever tried to fix that!"

"Sakura."

Sasuke watched as Kakashi's voice seemed to reign in Sakura's emotions. Her face settled back into a calm mask.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura mumbled before turning back to Juugo. "What do you say?" she then asked offering him her hand. "I have a strong feeling that I can help you quell these murderous urges. Plus, I have the best connections where the Hokage's concerned and I'll speak for you. Please let me do this."

Finally, Juugo nodded and slowly stretched his hand out to meet Sakura's. As they clasped hands, she pulled him to his feet with ease, letting go of his hand, but not leaving his side.

"Well, let's go then, Kakashi-sensei. I'm sure we can just let the other two go off on their way now since I just resolved the last problem. But it's your orders, of course," Sakura declared from her spot next to Juugo.

Sasuke saw Kakashi's eyes twitch as Sakura basically ordered him about, but then the man pulled his hitai-ate down over his Sharingan and let it go. "If they're no threat to our mission or Konoha, I guess we can just leave them be. Sakura, you'll walk right behind Kiba next to Juugo now," Kakashi finally ordered.

"W-w-wait!"

Sasuke barely suppressed his own eye twitch.

"I want to come to Konoha too!" Karin continued her exclamations.

Naruto, still on Sasuke's left, now raised his hands behind his head and snorted.

"And we'd want you in our village because?" Naruto asked, shaking his head.

"I'm a gifted sensor. I would be an asset to your village," Karin pleaded her case, her eyes focussed on Kakashi. "Besides, I have no where else to go and I want to stay with Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke watched as Kakashi considered Karin and finally sighed. Sasuke knew Karin was talented, but that didn't mean he wanted to keep her around, especially now that he had no need of her. "It's not up to me. It's Tsunade-sama's decision, but I will agree to take you to her."

"Aww, come on Kakashi-sensei. I don't like her attitude!" Naruto complained. "She's the type who would stab us in the back at the first opportunity."

"I never said she would come as a free citizen. She'll need to be shackled of course, and Hinata will seal her tenketsu. Only if she agrees to that can she come," Kakashi explained, his exposed eye fixed on Karin, watching and analysing her every movement.

Sasuke turned his attention back to Karin, who seemed to consider Kakashi's conditions before her eyes finally turned away from the gray haired man and landed on him. He saw the look in her eyes and knew what her answer would be. He bit back his annoyance.

"Fine," Karin finally answered.

"Well then, I guess I might as well join the party. It'll be hard work tracking down Kisame on my own. What do you think the chances are that if I play nice your Hokage will give me a crack at him?" Suigetsu asked.

Sasuke heard Yamato groan behind him. This was turning into a circus!

"We're taking in a bunch of freaks, Kakashi-sensei! Baa-chan's going to be pissed with all the extra work we're bringing back for her," Naruto pointed out.

"Better her headache than mine," Kakashi said, and Yamato shot Kakashi a glance that clearly said: _I'm blaming this all on you_. "Same rules go for you. Restraints, sealed tenketsu."

"Fine by me," Suigetsu responded. "By the way. Do you guys have any water?"

* * *

And so that was how they ended up at Konoha's gates, a few hours later, with all of team Hebi in their company.

"Yo!" Kakashi called when they were right in front of the closed gates.

An instant, and a poof of smoke later, a jounin was standing at Kakashi's side.

"Aren't you a little senior ranked for guard duty?" Kakashi commented.

The man smirked. "Hey, it's a favour to a friend. His wife's having a baby right now so I took his post for the evening," Genma answered, the senbon between his lips twitching with their movement. "Of course you have to go and bring back a mess for me to deal with the one night I'm out here, huh?"

"I try," Kakashi smirked behind his mask.

"Ahem!" Naruto cleared his throat. "I'm tired and I want to go to Ichiraku before it closes, so if you could just let us go see baa-chan that would be awesome."

Genma flashed Naruto a smirk.

"I see you haven't changed Uzumaki," Genma said. "You know, it was a quiet two and a half years in the village while you were out training with Jiraiya-sama."

"Idle chitchat is nice and all, but you must know, it's really rude to keep us waiting. I may have to report your behaviour to Tsunade-sama if you don't hurry up and let us in."

Genma turned his eyes to the speaker and saw Sakura smiling brightly. Then he smirked even bigger than before. "How's that right hook, Sakura?"

"Better," she told him simply. "You want to see it? We could spar again..."

"I'll take your word for it," he answered, holding his hands out in a stop gesture in front of him.

"You're just scared she's going to clobber you again," Kiba pointed out.

"So, let's get you to Tsunade-sama," Genma muttered, turning away and waving his hand to signal for another two shinobi to open the gates for them.

"I will hear that story later," Kakashi told Genma, proudly ruffling Sakura's hair.

"Yeah, yeah. Just go straight to the Hokage Tower. That's where you'll find her," Genma said, glaring at Kiba.

Karin watched the whole exchange, her annoyance from earlier building. First, she had watched as a little pink haired kunoichi, who addressed Sasuke with the kun suffix so easily and with perhaps the calmest and stablest chakra signature she had ever seen, had destroyed the earth without so much as a shift in her chakra. Then the same girl – Sakura – had called her trash. To top it off, Sasuke had actually warned that irritating pinkette away from Juugo, before stopping Juugo's urge and dissolving their team. And his chakra! It felt much calmer than it had before Itachi's death – Karin wanted to say it was because Sasuke had accomplished his goal, but she couldn't ignore how Sasuke's eyes seemed softer now as he gazed at the Konoha nin.

Of course, after that she had been pissed, and Sakura had seemed like an easy target for her anger, so when the leaf kunoichi had claimed to be able to heal Juugo, of course Karin had taken the opportunity to try and tear her down. It had backfired splendidly. The change in Sakura's chakra the moment Orochimaru's name was mentioned was instantaneous. Karin could feel the rage that had suddenly coloured it flare to life, almost as if the kunoichi was becoming another person. It was unexpected and terrifying in its intensity. She couldn't help but step away from the girl and her changed chakra.

And then, with her sensei's words, it was like the rage was washed from her chakra, and it resumed its eery calm. It was one of the strangest things Karin had ever witnessed.

And now, she was standing outside of Konoha, listening to the weak leaf ninja banter about inconsequential things, and it was just ticking her off some more. She just wanted to meet the Hokage and get this over with. She had made her choice – she had nowhere else to go and she wanted to stay with Sasuke – and now she just wanted to deal with the consequences. Of course, it didn't help that their little conversation was more indicative of that stupid Sakura's apparent strength, and that Sasuke seemed to be listening to it curiously and contemplating the pink haired kunoichi with those newly softened eyes of his.

Karin wanted to punch something. She had thrown herself at Sasuke and never had he so much as acknowledged what she was offering. And now here he was, having spent no more than a day travelling with his teammates, and that Sakura had elicited more of a reaction from him than she ever had. It was infuriating.

* * *

Somehow, their large party made it through the village without being seen by anyone. All too soon, they were standing in the Hokage Tower outside the door to Tsunade's office.

"Sakura. You do it," Kakashi ordered.

Sakura rolled her eyes, but nodded, knowing Kakashi wanted her to soften Tsunade to their news first. Sakura slowly opened one of the doors enough for her to slip into her teacher's office before closing it behind her. She was greeted by the familiar sight of Tsunade, sitting behind her desk, a sake bottle sitting opened in front of her. It was the reason no one was allowed to enter the Hokage's office uninvited.

Sakura was one of the few exceptions.

"Shishou, just because you can heal your own liver, it does not make drinking that much okay," Sakura commented lightly as she approached her teacher preparing to deliver the news of their return and make the request for an immediate audience with the Hokage for Sasuke and the other three nin.

When she had reached her teacher's side without any answer from Tsunade, Sakura got worried.

"Shishou," Sakura mumbled, reaching out hesitantly to touch her teacher's shoulder.

The woman jerked up at her touch, her light brown eyes flashing to Sakura's before settling on the sake bottle in front of her.

"What's wrong, shishou?" Sakura asked, much more concerned now. Tsunade was never this unaware, even when she was completely drunk.

"I'm... I'm just tired and stressed from overwork," Tsunade finally answered Sakura, holding her head in her hands.

Sakura didn't believe the lie for a second, but she let it go because she was just about to make her teacher even more miserable, tired, and stressed than she already looked.

"Shishou. I'm here to report on our mission. We were successful. The rest of our team is outside with Uchiha Sasuke and...some other...guests," Sakura said simply, struggling only over what to call Juugo, Suigetsu, and Karin – each really deserved their own individual designation. "I'm sorry to put more work on your plate, but you really need to make some cursory decisions right now in regards to their fate."

Tsunade snapped to attention then.

"Uchiha Sasuke is standing outside my office?" she asked in disbelief. "Did he kill Itachi?"

Sakura nodded her head. "It's over. It's over and we got him back," the young girl murmured.

Tsunade nodded her head, her worry for Jiraiya taking a back seat for a moment – she still had not heard from him since he had left to collect information on Akatsuki's leader. The Godaime had already thought long and hard about what to do with the Uchiha if he was brought back, because she had known it was a decision she might have to face as long as Naruto and Sakura kept looking for the headstrong Uchiha. And here he was.

"Send everyone in then."

"Actually, shishou. I was hoping I could just talk to you privately before everyone else comes in," Sakura murmured, looking down at her feet.

Tsunade couldn't help but smile. She had proudly watched Sakura flourish into a confident young woman, and yet here she was, clearly cowed. It was a new development. Sakura hadn't bothered to be so quiet with her since their first month together, going so far as to enter into screaming matches with her when they disagreed.

"If you're going to ask me for leniency for Sasuke, I can only give so much. I can assure you that he will not be put to death or jailed, but any more than that I cannot decide without seeing him first," Tsunade answered. The truth was, she was already sitting on a suitable punishment that she only needed to fine tune upon seeing the Uchiha.

Her smile widened as she saw Sakura blush. "Thank-you shishou. But that's not what I meant to ask you about." Sakura lifted her head and met her teacher's eyes. Tsunade nodded her head, encouraging the girl to go on. So, Sakura opened her mouth, and explained to Tsunade all she had learned about Juugo and his rages on the walk back.

"I've already talked to him, and he understands that it's for the best if he stays in one of the fortified prison cells until I've made some progress. But please shishou, he doesn't want to hurt anyone, but he can't help it. He's even willing to be locked up to stop himself! Please say you'll let me help him."

"As long as he poses no danger to the village in that cell, he can stay until you find a way to help him. And once you find a cure that works – because I know you will, you're my student after all – I think I can at least help him find a life here," Tsunade decided.

"Thank-you shishou!" Sakura exclaimed, throwing her arms around Tsunade's neck. "Now put away the sake bottle while I let everyone in. Naruto's probably already bouncing off the walls out there."

Sakura strode to the door as Tsunade shoved the sake bottle into a drawer in her desk. As Sakura reached for the handle, she paused for a moment. "I should probably warn you that there are two more surprises waiting for you. These ones, I really don't mind if you hate and choose to throw out," Sakura commented drily, before opening the door.


	3. Meant to Live

Authoress' Notes: Here's another one of the chapters. There are only a few left on my computer. So far I've had two reviews and some interest in the story, and though it's a weak response, as I edit these chapters I find myself with some inspiration for this story. I will most likely be continuing it with new chapters either when I have the free time or when my Summer break starts on the 1st of May.

* * *

**Chapter 3 - Meant to Live**

_Dreaming about providence and whether mice or men have second tries._

_Maybe we've been living with our eyes half open, maybe we're bent and broken._

_We were meant to live for so much more, have we lost ourselves?_

_Somewhere we live inside, somewhere we live inside._

_We were meant to live for so much more, have we lost ourselves?_

_Somewhere we live inside_.

_- Meant to Live, Switchfoot_

* * *

Tsunade sat behind her desk, her face impassive, and her fingers massaging her temples. This was just a headache and a half that she really didn't need right now – not on top of her worry for Jiraiya. Team Kakashi and Team Kurenai stood in front of her with their four guests – three of them in restraints. Only one man was free, and given his large size, Tsunade assumed he was the Juugo Sakura had spoken to her about. She already knew what she was going to do with him, but it was the other three that gave her pause.

She _really_ didn't need this right now.

Kakashi had already reported on the mission's events and success, and had informed her of the two _surprises'_ – as Sakura had put it – supposed desire to come to Konoha. Of course, like Kakashi, she would never trust them at their word.

"You two! Step forward!" she finally barked, motioning to two of the three shackled nin – their names were Karin and Suigetsu if she remembered correctly.

They both stepped forward from their positions, Suigetsu with a bored look on his face, and Karin with her face carefully blank.

"I don't trust either of you," Tsunade said simply from her place behind her desk. It wasn't a very necessary statement, but it gave her another second to collect the rest of her thoughts. "But it's late and I don't want to deal with all of this right now. So I'll give you an evening's respite from questioning. Tonight, you will both stay in our prison, and then tomorrow you will be taken to meet with our interrogation experts. After that, depending on how well you cooperate, we'll talk about your futures – and I will take heavily into account that you both willingly came here when you could have gone your own ways. Is that understood?"

She watched the two nin expectantly and they both nodded, their expressions unchanging.

"Fine," she said acknowledging their head nods. "Now," Tsunade continued, turning her attention to the big man, "Juugo, was it? Sakura has already spoken to me about your case. A jail cell with all the comforts that we can give will be provided for you until we figure out a solution to your problem. Sakura's investigation will begin tomorrow morning to speed this process along as much as possible."

Juugo also nodded his head in response to her words and Tsunade smiled sadly. It wasn't hard to see the burden this man bore and how much it bothered him, and there was no way that she could hold him accountable for any actions he may have taken while in a rage. But her first responsibility was to her village and he could only stay here as long as he was not a danger to Konoha's safety. She only hoped, for Juugo's sake, that Sakura could help him effectively – and quickly.

"Well then. Yamato, Sai, Hinata, Shino, and Kiba – I'll have the five of you escort these two and Juugo to the prison. Once there, please ensure that Suigetsu's and Karin's tenketsu are still sealed, though they may be relieved of their restraints," Tsunade ordered.

"Of course, Tsunade-sama," Yamato answered, and without further ado he ushered the four nin under his command and the three members of the former Team Hebi out the door, though not without many backwards glances from all of them into the room.

When the door shut firmly behind the exiting group, Tsunade turned towards her biggest problem. He was staring at the ground and had yet to make eye contact with her.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

His name seemed to do the trick. He finally looked up and met her eyes. Tsunade did not know him well, but still she thought he looked like he was barely tethered to the world. He didn't look satisfied, he didn't look angry, he didn't look proud, he didn't even look annoyed.

"Now what am I supposed to do with you, a traitor to his village?" she mused aloud, watching him intently. Even so, in the corner of her eye, she could still see Naruto bouncing on the balls of his feet and clenching his fists, his brows furrowed, and his face contorted with his worry.

Tsunade wanted to smile in spite of the situation. Naruto was too easy to read most of the time. He was clearly excited that his friend was back in the village, but at the same time, nervous about Sasuke's future. She hid the grin that threatened to blossom on her lips. She couldn't help but wonder how the blond would react to the punishment she had planned for Sasuke if the Uchiha proved to have the potential for redemption.

Sasuke hadn't answered her question, but she hadn't thought he would. It was meant to be rhetorical after all. So she moved to her next question. This encounter was not something she could simply push to tomorrow. Naruto and Sakura would not let her. This had to be dealt with here and now.

"Is it true that you killed Orochimaru?" Tsunade finally asked the stoic dark-haired young man, beginning with an easy question that she already knew the answer to.

While Tsunade considered Sasuke, he was watching the woman in front of him, his face expressionless. He knew that the woman was looking for something from him – something that would determine his future here, Sasuke assumed. He needed to answer her questions appropriately if he wanted any chance of escaping incarceration.

So for this simple question, he nodded once, but did not speak.

"And is it also true that you killed Uchiha Itachi?" Tsunade continued her questioning.

Sasuke nodded again.

"When you left the village did you leave of your own accord?" Sasuke could see the woman's face taking on as blank of an expression as the one he wore. He guessed that she was masking her thoughts and intentions from him.

He treated her to the sight of another nod.

There was a moment's pause, while Tsunade eyed him before resuming her questioning.

"And were you planning on ever returning here when you left?" she finally asked him.

The question hit Sasuke with all the force he imagined the punch Sakura had dealt the ground on their way here contained. He hadn't expected her to ask him something like that – what he had expected were questions about what he had done and learned while with Orochimaru. He knew she was watching him, waiting for his answer. He could also feel Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi's eyes on him.

But, what had been his long term plan back then? He must have had one before he had become so consumed with gaining power and killing Itachi that he had even forgotten his desire to revive his clan.

What he did remember was that he had been frustrated with his apparent lack of progress and with how weak he had seemed in comparison to Naruto at the time. He had only wanted the power to defeat Itachi. Is that when he had lost sight of any other future? He made the effort to searched his memory, but nothing else came to mind.

As the seconds wore on, he knew he had to answer, and he felt like an honest answer would impress the Hokage more than a lie. His conviction to stay here had only grown as they had walked back. He really had nothing else now except for his vow to revive his clan... and the few people who had never given up on him. Even now he could feel the annoying pull of his ties with his old teammates.

"I don't know," he finally muttered, unable to express his answer appropriately without words.

"Then what were your plans?"

His next answer came more easily, given his last thoughts: "At that time, I didn't have any past that man's death."

Tsunade noted that the fact that he was talking was a small miracle in and of itself. Plus, his answers, though simple and not very revealing of anything, sounded like nothing other than truth. In that, they were enough for her to surmise that the young man in front of her wasn't a lost cause. Yes, it was an undoubted fact in her mind that he was bent and broken, but that just meant that he could be put back together.

"And now that your brother _is_ dead what will you do? If I granted you your freedom, would you make a life in Konoha?" she questioned him.

The way the question came out, he knew she wasn't looking for a right answer, but an honest answer. What could he say? He glanced away from Tsunade's measuring stare and looked at the people in the room with him. There was Kakashi, his face concealed by his mask, and Sasuke wondered for the first time how his teacher felt about his betrayal. After all, the man had spoken to him about revenge the very day he had decided to leave, and Sasuke had ignored his words.

Somewhere, in the back of his mind, a voice nagged that Kakashi's words had held truth.

He turned his head away from the man and looked instead to Naruto. Ever optimistic, even now the blond's lips kept twitching up as if he wanted to smile. Despite everything Sasuke had done, Naruto was still overjoyed to have him back and didn't even seem to think any less of him. It was incomprehensible to Sasuke who thought that Naruto should be angry at him after everything that had taken place...behaving much more like Sakura when she had slapped him...

He turned to take in Sakura, who was staring at the ground. Where Naruto was wide open about his feelings, after her initial hug, her slap, and then her claim that she wanted him home, the way she treated him had become almost guarded. His mind took an unwilling turn as he remembered that this was the same girl who he had once been able to read so well. Now she was a mystery with her chuunin standing, her newfound strength, her medical skills, and her calm demeanour.

Again he found himself asking what had happened.

And it sort of irritated him that it was a mystery, that he didn't know how and why she had changed.

"Yes. I would," he finally told the Godaime, turning his attention back to the woman who held his fate in her hands.

Tsunade heard Sakura's muted squeak of happiness and saw Naruto's grin come take its proper place on his face. Kakashi was quiet though, and he seemed to be considering the young man's brief answers with a lot more care than either Naruto or Sakura had done.

Tsunade herself was hiding a soft smile. She was genuinely happy for her student and Naruto – especially because their story now had the potential to have a much happier ending than her own. She wasn't a blind woman. She could see the resemblances between her genin team and Team 7 – especially given that she had trained Sakura, and the girl's teammates Naruto and Sasuke had each been trained by one of the woman's own old teammates. And like Orochimaru had left them and betrayed Konoha, eventually meeting his death, Sasuke had done the same, only Naruto and Sakura had succeeded in bringing back their runaway teammate. And now it even looked like they might get some semblance of their life back.

But for that to happen, Sasuke had to once again become the person that both Naruto and Sakura had known. Tsunade would give him the opportunity to do that, while doing her duty to the village and duly punishing him – albeit with a severely reduced sentence.

"You have betrayed your village – a crime that would normally be punishable by death. But you have also rid Konoha of two of its strongest enemies, and you have never taken action against the village or its shinobi...or so those who have had contact with you since your leaving have rigorously maintained," Tsunade began. It was true...in a way. Naruto, Sakura, and even Sai and Yamato had not wanted to bear official witness of Sasuke's fights with them, and Tsunade, on her part, had not insisted.

"You claim that you would stay here if given your freedom, but forgive me if I don't trust you," Tsunade continued keeping her voice even and acting every bit the Hokage. "Your chakra is sealed and it will remain that way for a year. In that time, you will perform community service for Konoha to repay your debt for the crime of leaving your village. After a year, if you have not given me any reason to find you untrustworthy, your chakra will be unsealed and I will _consider_ reinstating your position as a shinobi of this village."

"And before you say anything, understand that your punishment has been severely reduced from that of death or imprisonment," Tsunade pointed out quickly as she sensed the Uchiha tense at the mention of community service. He couldn't know exactly _how_ lenient she was being for Naruto and Sakura's sake – at the very _least_ he should have been imprisoned for years if not for his entire life. "Regardless of your supposed desire to stay here, you have not returned here willingly, Uchiha, and this is the most lenience I will grant you. That being said, though I have spared you imprisonment, you will not be allowed to live here on your own terms."

Sasuke pondered the Hokage's words. He was getting off incredibly easy. No death sentence and no imprisonment. Yes, community service sucked, but if he wanted to stay here as a free man – or as close as he could be to one with his chakra sealed –, he had no other choice in the matter. But what did she mean by him being unable to live here on his own terms?

"I have a few stipulations," Tsunade began, and he felt himself tense in expectation. "Firstly, until the people of Konoha are accustomed to your presence, you may not walk around the village without the company of a member of Team Seven. Secondly, you may not leave the village ever again unless _I _give you clear permission – if you do leave, I will throw your ass into jail without a moment's hesitation even if you come back with the heads of Akatsuki. And thirdly, you will live in the vacant apartment next to Naruto's until I allow otherwise," Tsunade told him, finally letting a smile come to her face.

Since the loud and messy Naruto had come back from his years away, the apartment next door to his had remained conspicuously empty with no one willing to take on the hyperactive neighbour, and Tsunade had given serious thought as to how to best punish and rehabilitate Sasuke at the if he ever returned. As the apartment next to Naruto's had continued to remain empty, Tsunade had acquired the property – just in case. Making the Uchiha live next to Naruto had seemed like an obvious addition to her rules for Sasuke – not only would he be unable to avoid his teammate, he would have to deal with having a loud, excitable neighbour.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He had to be Naruto's neighbour? And if he wanted to leave his apartment, one of his old teammates or his old sensei needed to be his chaperone? And hadn't Naruto always been loud? Still, he grudgingly had to admit that the whole situation was better than being imprisoned.

Meanwhile Naruto was cheering at the thought of having Sasuke as a neighbour. The apartment next door to his had been empty since he had returned and he had been wondering if someone would ever move in.

Tsunade caught sight of Naruto's cheering and raised a hand to quiet him.

"I'm not done yet," she reminded the nin in the room, shooting Naruto a glare. "You will also be submitted to questioning about your time away from Konoha – especially any knowledge about Kabuto, and Orochimaru's techniques and experiments," Tsunade declared. "Tomorrow morning, you will meet with Hyuuga Neji and Kakashi in my office at the hospital at nine o'clock sharp. Provided they're satisfied with your answers, when you're done with the questioning, you will promptly begin your community service there."

"Wait! So Sasuke will be working with Sakura-chan?" Naruto questioned excitedly.

"Yes and no, Naruto. Obviously he won't be working _with_ Sakura – he's not a trained medic. What Sasuke will be doing are any odd-jobs that we need done at the hospital. This way, I'll be able to monitor whether he's performing his community service to my satisfaction or not," Tsunade explained with a satisfied smirk.

But Sasuke didn't believe that was the entire truth. She had surely had something else in mind when choosing the hospital – he could see it in the smirk she wore. He considered protesting the type of service she had assigned him, but as the thought flashed across his mind, Tsunade's smirk disappeared and she shot him a glare as if she could sense what he was thinking. At that instant he realized that Tsunade could assign him something much more annoying than menial chores at a hospital.

No, this was not ideal, but he had made his choice and he would deal with the consequences. Regardless of its flaws, the punishment he had been given was better than jail time. This way, he could at least practice his basic taijutsu and see more than the same four walls every day – and maybe show Tsunade that he could be trusted to have his chakra unsealed.

"Now, Sasuke. I will give you access to your funds so that you may support yourself and I will also have someone drop off the things from your old apartment sometime tomorrow," Tsunade continued, and then turned her attention away from him and to Sakura. Sasuke followed the woman's gaze, and noted that Sakura was staring thoughtfully at the ground.

"Sakura," Tsunade demanded the young woman's attention, and Sakura looked up accordingly. "You will meet Sasuke tomorrow morning and escort him to the hospital since I doubt Naruto will be awake and Kakashi would be late. Afterwards, you may gather whatever equipment you need from the hospital and begin your work with Juugo."

"Of course, shishou," Sakura answered with a firm nod.

"Then you, Naruto, and Sasuke are dismissed," Tsunade concluded, tossing a small key to Sasuke, who caught it with ease. "That's for the apartment. Sakura can take the shackles off."

As Sakura gave her another respectful nod of the head, Naruto was already leaving, Sasuke having the sense to follow after him. As Kakashi made to leave after his students, Tsunade cleared her throat.

"Sadly, Kakashi, I still need to speak with you."

* * *

Naruto was talking his ears off.

Not that the information Naruto was giving him was entirely pointless. They were presently both sitting on stools at Ichiraku under careful scrutiny of the owner, Sasuke having already finished his ramen, while Naruto's fourth bowl was _finally_ nearly empty. So far, Sasuke had heard that all of their genin acquaintances had made chunin – except for Naruto because he had been off completing important training with Jiraiya, or so the blond shinobi had emphasized –, that Neji, Temari, and Kankuro had made jounin, and that Gaara was the Kazekage. Naruto had then proceeded to tell him how Ichiraku was still as good as ever, how he and Sakura had defeated Kakashi in a repeat of the bell test when he had returned from his training, and how nothing in Konoha had really changed – especially now that Sasuke was back.

Sasuke couldn't disagree with that last statement more.

As soon as they had left the Hokage Tower, Sakura had excused herself, which had resulted in Naruto whining about how Sakura was ruining their reunion. She had begged exhaustion, and had left then, with nothing more than a simple goodbye. That was _nothing_ like the Sakura he remembered. She would have been excited to go out as a team. No...she would have been excited to spend time with _him_. But since she had left the room where he had awoken this morning, she had shown him only traces of the Sakura he remembered.

And that bothered him in an annoying way he couldn't place.

Naruto finished his ramen and paid for both of their shares since Sasuke would be without money until tomorrow, and then the two resumed their walk to Naruto's apartment building, Naruto falling uncharacteristically silent as they took their first few steps down the road.

"You know, Sasuke," Naruto finally started, "you would have usually told me to shut up by now."

Sasuke said nothing, and he heard Naruto sigh.

"You know. It's okay to talk to us. We_ want _you to talk to us. We missed you," Naruto told him, his tone insistent.

Sasuke still said nothing.

"It's okay. You don't have to say anything. I know you missed us too. Especially Sakura-chan. I mean as soon as you woke up this morning, the first words out of your mouth were: _Where's Sakura_?" Naruto continued, his tone becoming more teasing.

"Shut up, dobe," Sasuke finally muttered in retaliation as unaffectedly as he could. Internally, he was remembering how automatically that question had come to his lips. But Naruto was just being his usual stupid self. The question about Sakura's whereabouts that morning had been nothing but natural given that he had awoken to the rest of his old team and that Sai character.

"That's more like it, teme," Naruto cheered, punching Sasuke in the shoulder.

Then they settled into silence again. And it was strange. Naruto had always been brash and loud, and after having travelled with Karin and Suigetsu for a time, Sasuke was not used to such quiet.

"Why didn't you just give up on me?"

The question had slipped from his lips before he became conscious that he was even thinking about it. Somehow he managed to remain stoic as Naruto's surprised face turned towards him.

"Because you're my best friend," Naruto answered simply with a bright smile. "And because I know you were meant to live for so much more than your revenge. You're supposed to be here, with us, doing missions for Konoha and growing old and powerful like Ero-sennin and baa-chan. Avenging your clan was just one stop on the road, and sure, on the way there you got a little lost, but now you're here and you're right back on track... And I'm sure you'll come to see that too if you don't already."

Sasuke almost stopped in his tracks. So far, Naruto had done nothing to dispel the notion in Sasuke's head that the blond boy was still the same loud, optimistic, loyal, friendly, and determined shinobi in his memory. Now though, Naruto was talking almost like he had...grown up. It was then that Sasuke realized that it had been three long years and that was more than possible.

He spared a glance at Naruto, and, seeing that the other young man was regarding him curiously, Sasuke realized that he was conveying the shock he felt on his face. Sasuke quickly smoothed his visage into its usual unexpressive mask, but the damage was done. Naruto's curious look twisted into a knowing smirk, and Sasuke didn't have to read minds to know that Naruto was satisfied to have evoked such a large, nonnegative response.

"Whatever, dobe," Sasuke finally retorted.

Naruto just laughed loudly.

"It's just like we're kids again, teme," Naruto choked out through his laughter, "except now I'm the one who's pushing your buttons."

Sasuke couldn't even deny the truth in that statement no matter how much he wanted to. It seemed like everything that Naruto said hit home and made him react in a way very much like his twelve year old self would have. He grew annoyed, and felt his competitiveness bubble to surface, absently noting that no one had been able to bring it out like Naruto. This time, it was his win though. His pride and arrogance surged, and his lips twisted into their own smirk.

"Whatever, dobe," Sasuke retorted again. "But remind me... What have you done since I left? I mean, I've taken out two of Konoha's biggest threats."

Naruto blanched and then scowled.

"Whatever, teme," Naruto grumbled. "I'll show you how strong I am. And as soon as Tsunade baa-chan gives the okay and your chakra's all freed up, we're going to fight and I'm going to kick your ass."

"They'll be helping you to the hospital when we're done, dobe," Sasuke responded, his tone still arrogant.

Inside however, he was wondering how the hell Naruto's presence and their stupid fighting could possibly feel normal and surprisingly welcome.

"Oi, teme. We're here."

* * *

"_Why are you prowling around here in the middle of the night?" he asked her._

"_I knew you'd come this way...if you were to leave...so I just waited here," she answered him, wringing her hands together in front of her as she took in the pack on his back._

"_Get out of here and go back to sleep," he commanded her, his voice cold._

_She didn't move. "Why won't you say anything to me? Why do you always keep so quiet? You never say a single word to me."_

"_I told you, I don't need your help. Don't try to look after me."_

_She was hurting, but she kept going despite the pain in her heart. "No matter what, you always just hate me, don't you... You remember don't you? When we became genin, the day when our three-man team was first decided... The first time we were here by ourselves, you were so mad at me..."_

_A memory of that day flashed through her mind before she was returned to the present by his words. "I don't remember that."_

"_Haha..." she tried to laugh it off, to lighten the heavy atmosphere that was weighing down on her. "Yeah, I guess you're right...that's all in the past, huh? That's when it all began though. You and me...along with Naruto and Kakashi-sensei... We did all sorts of missions, just the four of us. It was painful and difficult at times. Even with that though...I still enjoyed it. I know all about your past Sasuke. Even if you get revenge though...it won't bring anyone happiness. Not even you, Sasuke...nor me..."_

"_I already know...I'm different from you all...I can't follow the same path as you guys... Up until now, we've done everything as a group. But there is something else I must do... Deep inside my heart, I've already decided on revenge. For that reason only do I live... I'll never be like you or Naruto."_

_She felt so sad for him. Tears started rolling down her face. "Do you really want to go back to being alone? You told me how painful it was to be alone. Right now I know your pain...I may have friends and family... But...if you were to leave...to me...to me...I would be just as alone as you..."_

"_From here on out we all begin new paths."_

_She was desperate now. Her heart was breaking. She was trying her hardest not to sob, but it was impossible to keep from crying. "I...I...love you with all my heart! If you were to stay with me...there would be no regrets because every day we would do something fun...we'd be happy, I swear! I would do anything for you! So... Please just stay with me...I'll even help you with your revenge... I don't know what I could do but, I'll try my best to do something... So please stay with me... Or take me with you if you can't stay here."_

"_You really are...annoying."_

_Her heart shattered. "Don't leave! If you do I'll scream!"_

_He disappeared from her sight, and then she felt his familiar presence behind her._

"_Sakura...thank you."_

"_Sasuke-kun..." she muttered as she felt a pressure on her neck. The last thing she saw was the ground before her eyes fell shut._

In reality though, Sakura's eyes were opening wide as she gripped the covers of her bed in clenched fists. She was sweating profusely, and tears were pooling in her eyes. It had been so long since she had dreamt of the night he had left – more recent memories and horrors had long replaced that particular nightmare.

As she took deep calming breaths, sitting up in bed and throwing the covers back, the first thing she realized was that she was still in her clothes, not having bothered to change once she had reached her apartment. The second thing she took in was that it was still early in the night – through the glass doors that led to her balcony she could see the moon was high in the inky sky.

She hated nights like this, where her nightmares refused to let her sleep. It had been okay when she had still lived with her parents, but they weren't here to comfort her anymore. She stood up on shaky limbs and walked over to the glass doors, wrapping her arms around herself protectively as she took in the sight of Konoha in the nighttime. It was beautiful – but it was not enough to soothe her.

She knew why she had dreamt about that night. Her old pain, her new hope, the bubbling uncertainty, and her eternal love were all warring for first place in her thoughts, but it was one emotion, an emotion that she hadn't even recognized in herself before her dream, that drowned them all out and won the competition for her attention.

Fear.

Sasuke was back, and she was terrified that she would lose him again.

Her trembling increased, and the sobs she had been holding back threatened to burst from her lips, but through sheer will power, she held herself together. But she knew her will wasn't going to be enough to hold the fear at bay for very long. It was just too much for her to deal with on her own. She couldn't stay here by herself...not tonight.

And she knew just who she could count on – the one man who had upheld the promise of a lifetime with her.

Without a second thought, she grabbed her bag from their mission, and slipped out of her lonely apartment.

* * *

It was midnight, and Naruto couldn't sleep...which was something wholly unusual for him. Usually, he was out like a light the second his head hit the pillow no matter how early or late. Tonight however, he couldn't fall asleep – though not for lack of trying. There were too many thoughts running through his head...thoughts about his new neighbour.

The one that stood out the most was that Sasuke was just on the other side of that thin wall...right there! And if Naruto banged on it a few times, the other shinobi couldn't _not_ hear it. Overnight, Naruto had gone from being as far away from Sasuke as he could imagine to having Sasuke – the closest he would ever come to having a brother – within a distance where the raven-haired young man would always hear him if he called.

The other thoughts on his mind ranged from Sasuke's punishment, to his behaviour on their walk to the apartment building from the ramen stand.

'_That was almost like old times,' _Naruto thought as he smiled at his ceiling.

No, Sasuke wasn't exactly the same as when he had left, but with every passing moment Sasuke spent with them and in Konoha, he seemed to be showing traits more and more like the Sasuke Naruto knew.

Unbidden, the words Itachi had spoken to him while he was searching for Sasuke came to mind: _Sasuke's heart is still a blank canvas – the right person could paint it whatever colour he wanted._

Not that he was inclined to believe anything Itachi had told him, but if the Uchiha had been right, did that mean that right now _they_ were painting Sasuke's heart?

At this, Naruto's thoughts turned to his partner in that _they_... Sakura... Why had she left them after the meeting in the Hokage's office? And why had she looked so...well frankly, why hadn't she been as happy as he was? Naruto knew that she had wanted Sasuke to come home as much as he had – in this he was sure he was not wrong. So what was going on with Sakura?

Someone knocked on his door and Naruto wondered who it could possible be at this hour.

He jumped out of bed and strolled across the messy floor of his apartment. When he opened the door, he could only stand there in shocked silence.

Sakura stood in front of him, tears streaming down her face, and her mission pack slung over her shoulders. She was staring at him with wide, pleading eyes.

"I... I can't be alone tonight. I need a... a friend. Can I... can I stay with you, Naruto?"

How could he turn her away?

"Come on in."

* * *

Sasuke hadn't been sleeping when he had heard footsteps on the landing outside of his apartment. Soon enough, a knock had followed the footsteps, and after a moment, he heard the sound of the front door of the apartment next to his whining open on unoiled hinges.

More silence. And then her voice.

"I... I can't be alone tonight. I need a... a friend. Can I... can I stay with you, Naruto?"

He could tell she was crying. Of all people, he would know better than anyone else what she sounded like when she cried. How many times had he heard her tear-laden voice?

What caught his attention even more than her choked back sobs though, was her presence there. She was visiting Naruto in the earliest hours of the day and asking to spend the night with him. When had the two gotten so close? In his absence? But, no. Naruto himself had told him that he had been away for almost all that time, and that the time he had spent back in Konoha had been filled with missions.

"Come on in," he heard Naruto reply, and then more footsteps as Sakura entered the small one room apartment next to his.

"What's wrong, Sakura-chan?" Naruto finally asked quietly after a bit of shuffling, but in the silence that blanketed the night, Sasuke could still hear it.

It was quiet for a minute, and Sasuke started to feel the beginnings of curiosity creeping up on him. Sakura had always been talkative, and she had spoken her mind about everything – from the curse seal on his neck during the chunin exams, to her feelings for him the night he had left. Why was she so hesitant now?

"I'm... I'm scared, Naruto," she finally responded quietly. "I'm terrified that... that we're going to lose him again."

Was she speaking about him? Naruto's answer indicated that he seemed to think so.

"Sasuke's not going anywhere, Sakura-chan. Everything's going to be alright. It'll all work itself out. We just need to give it some time," Naruto told her, his voice calm and soothing.

Sakura laughed through her tears. "When did you become the smart one?" she asked him with saddened mirth.

Naruto said nothing, and another brief silenced followed her question.

When she resumed speaking, it was in that same sad, soft voice: "He made a team, Naruto. _Without_ us. He should have known we would have helped him... So even if he says he wants to stay here, I can't help but wonder if it's only because of the location. What if he wants nothing to do with us? What if we brought him here only to lose him all over again?"

Sasuke had long hardened his heart to the world around him. He had been an avenger, set on his path, one that he had been convinced diverged from that of his teammates. He had run from them – the people who cared about him most in this world – because he had needed strength to accomplish his goal that he was convinced he couldn't have gotten if he had remained.

And yet, words spoken by a girl he had been determined to forget nagged at him.

_He should have known we would have helped him_ – those had been Sakura's words. And she was afraid of _losing him_? Her and Naruto were just so damn persistent and it was too easy to remember old times with team seven – the happiest time of his life since his entire family had been murdered.

More words were spoken by Naruto as he reassured Sakura that everything would work out just fine, but Sasuke didn't really hear them.

Instead, he thought about what Naruto had said to him – that avenging his clan was only one stop along the road. It was not the end of his path, not his only reason to live. He had killed Itachi, he was alive, and he still had a goal for the future – a new path to travel. One that Naruto and Sakura had managed to rejoin when he had continued on and left them behind as completely as he could. If their paths could rejoin, maybe they had never been on such different paths as he had thought.

A whirlwind of old emotions and memories, his new observations, and his plans for the future engulfed him, and the emptiness that had encompassed him when he had realized he had succeeded in his revenge was pushed back even further than it had already been by the mere presence of his teammates.

As he listened to Sakura climb into Naruto's bed, halfheartedly warning him not to try anything funny, Sasuke decided to just let go and see where the path he was on led.

He was ready to see if he was meant to live for so much more than revenge.


	4. How to Save a Life

Authoress' Notes: Sorry it took so long to post this. I had evil midterm exams so I couldn't edit the chapter. Now they are over...temporarily. Gah. On another note, I'm so grateful for the support I've received for this story. I never expected to be on so many people's story alerts after a little more than a month. So I've decided to continue with this, and I'll hopefully be able to update sort of maybe regularly until my Summer vacation begins. But we'll see. I only have three more prewritten chapters (not including this one), and they need to be edited quite a bit before they are fit to post, so I can't even promise that they'll be up soon. Hopefully you enjoy this chapter. And please, leave me a review so I know what you're thinking!

* * *

**Chapter 4 - How to Save a Life**

_Let him know that you know best, cause after all you do know best,_

_Try to slip past his defence without granting innocence,_

_Lay down a list of what is wrong, the things you've told him all along,_

_And pray to God he hears you, and pray to God he hears you._

_Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend, somewhere along in the bitterness,_

_And I would have stayed up with you all night had I known how to save a life._

_- How to Save a Life, The Fray_

* * *

When Sakura awoke, it was to the sound of soft snores coming from somewhere behind her and a warmth at her back. She rolled away from the warmth and the sounds until she could take in the person beside her. Naruto was curled up next to her, facing the wall, in what she knew had been his attempt to keep his hands very much to himself since he usually slept completely splayed out – even on missions when they had to sleep on the uncomfortable ground.

She smiled.

Naruto was dependable. She could always count on him – even to make her feel better. Something so simple as sharing a bed and waking up beside him made her that much more secure in everything. It reminded her of waking up next to him on missions together. It was familiar. It was normal. It was right.

She climbed quietly and carefully from the bed, unwilling to wake Naruto so early when she knew that he would normally want to sleep in. A glance at the clock on the wall told her it was seven thirty, and that she had about an hour and fifteen minutes before she should be heading next door to meet Sasuke since it would take them about ten minutes to reach the hospital from here.

Sasuke...

A night's sleep and Naruto's soothing words hadn't been enough to settle her thoughts, but they had been enough to push her negative feelings to where she could presently ignore them. She had to focus on more pressing matters anyways. Like getting Sasuke to the hospital on time for his interrogation with Kakashi and Neji, and how she was going to go about curing Juugo. Which meant she had to get up and start getting ready for the day.

Naruto's shower was bound to be gross, but Sakura really needed to get cleaned up before she went anywhere. So, she grabbed her bag and slowly made her way to Naruto's small bathroom, and was pleasantly surprised to find it passably clean. She closed the door behind her, lamenting the lack of a lock even though she knew Naruto wouldn't purposely try to peek on her – he knew that such peeking was equivalent to asking for a chakra powered punch in the face. Still, that didn't mean that Naruto wouldn't wander into the bathroom by accident in a state of half alertness...

She hurriedly extracted a set of clothes to change into from her pack as well as her medical pouch and weapons holster, and set them on a relatively clean looking counter top by the sink. She also pulled out a towel and her own shampoo, and then she stripped down and took the quickest shower of her life.

When she was done, she towelled herself dry and got dressed as quickly as she had gotten undressed. She wrapped her hair up in the towel and rooted around her bag for her toothbrush and a hairbrush. When she had taken care of her oral hygiene, she took the towel off her head, and ran the brush through her short pink locks. Satisfied with her cleanliness and overall appearance, she put her things away and proceeded to tidy up Naruto's bathroom so that it wasn't just passably clean but spotless.

When she was satisfied with her work, she exited the small room, and was glad to see that Naruto hadn't awoken to the noise she was making in his apartment. It was only eight o'clock, and there was no reason for him to get up yet. But _she_ was up, and she still had some time to kill.

She considered returning home to drop off her stuff, but decided that would be a silly waste of time. She then thought about going out for breakfast as she knew the only edible thing she would find in Naruto's apartment was likely to be ramen – which she refused to eat anywhere else other than Ichiraku if she could help it, given how often Naruto dragged her there – but even that seemed like too much of a bother. So she did the only thing that would keep her mind and body occupied while she waited for an appropriate time to head next door.

Sakura cleaned.

By the time eight forty-five rolled around, Naruto's apartment was near spotless, and Sakura was ready to pick up Sasuke. She scrawled a quick note for her friend, thanking him for his comfort and hospitality, and telling him where she had gone. Then, she shouldered her backpack and exited Naruto's apartment, taking the few steps towards the next apartment door down the hall.

When she reached it, she took a few deep, calming breaths. She had nothing else to occupy her mind now other than the task at hand, and it was with a mixture of happy anticipation and nervous dread that she finally noted that she would be alone with Sasuke for the first time in three long years.

Sakura raised her fist to the door and pulled back her hand to knock, but before she could complete the motion, the door swung open to reveal Sasuke, still clad in the outfit the boys had managed to assemble for him yesterday from their own clothes before they had set off for Konoha – long black pants and a navy long sleeved shirt, with his own black sandals encasing his feet.

After a moment's silence, Sakura finally gathered her courage and spoke first.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun," she murmured, staring at his chest.

She wanted to kick herself. Why was she acting like a shy schoolgirl, dammit? No. She knew what it was. It was her doubt creeping back up on her – her doubt in who he was and his intentions in regards to their friendship.

She noticed he didn't respond to her greeting.

"We should get going. I don't want you to be late," she finally continued, turning away from Sasuke and heading for the stairs.

Half of her wanted to run back, cling to him, and never let go.

A few seconds later, she heard a door shutting and a key turning in a lock, and then unhurried footsteps. It was evidence of Sasuke's long legs that those footsteps were already right on her heels when she reached the bottom of the stairs.

* * *

Sakura had yet to meet his eyes.

She was just walking along in silence, her orbs focussed on the surprisingly empty road in front of her. So he followed her, his hands shoved into the pockets of the pants Naruto had given him yesterday morning to replace his own tattered and bloodied ones – he really needed to buy his own clothes. After five minutes of this silence though, he was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. He had always preferred silence, but he had also gotten used to noise, and Sakura was not supposed to be this quiet – in that, she was exactly like Naruto.

She coughed, and Sasuke turned his eyes to her to see if she would finally speak. He was mildly disappointed when the silence between them persisted, and despite the noises of the city in the background, never before had a silence weighed down on Sasuke so much. At least that was the reasoning he gave himself for being the one to break it.

"So you passed the chunin exam?" he asked. It was one of the first things that came to mind and he thought it seemed like a natural enough question.

To say Sakura looked shocked that he had spoken would be an understatement of the grossest kind. Her eyes widened, and her mouth opened into a perfect _O_. She abruptly stopped walking, before her feet immediately resumed their pace, perhaps even quicker than before.

"Yes," she finally answered softly without turning to look at him.

"When?" he prodded uncharacteristically when that was all she said. She wasn't supposed to be the one giving one word answers. She was supposed to be the one bugging _him_ for longer responses.

"When I was fourteen."

"Hn," he muttered in reply, and she didn't say anything further.

Another few minutes of silence passed and Sasuke could now see the hospital and the movement around it as a few people walked into and out of the building. Surprisingly, they hadn't seen much of anyone on their walk there, and Sasuke had to assume that Sakura had taken him on a more unpopulated path through the city because by nine o'clock in the morning, the village, or the marketplace at least, should have been bustling with activity.

When they were no more than twenty feet from the hospital's entrance, a young girl exiting the building caught sight of them, and then rushed straight towards Sakura, yelling loudly: "Nee-chan! Nee-chan!"

Sasuke saw a bright smile come to Sakura's face as the younger girl flung herself into Sakura's now wide open arms. He couldn't help but wonder who she was. Sakura had never mentioned a little sister...had she?

"Hey, Moegi-chan," Sakura replied, ruffling the girl's hair as Moegi stepped out of Sakura's embrace. "What were you doing at the hospital? Did Konohamaru get hurt again?"

The girl – Moegi – sighed heavily in obvious frustration. "Yes, nee-chan! We were just supposed to find Madam Shijimi's cat Tora...again... I don't know how Konohamaru gets into such messes every time, even on such a simple mission..." the girl trailed off as her eyes landed on him. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened in surprise much like Sakura's had only minutes earlier.

Apparently Sakura took notice of the girl's reaction as well, because not even a second later she was giving Moegi a light push in the opposite direction of the hospital. "You'll get used to it Moegi-chan. Boys are just stupid like that sometimes. We'll talk about that later though, okay? I have somewhere I need to be," Sakura called over her shoulder to a still frozen Moegi, already walking away.

Sasuke was right behind her when they strolled through the hospital doors, wondering about the relationship between Sakura and the young girl. Moegi looked a little familiar, but he couldn't quite place her. But Sakura and Moegi didn't look anything alike so it wasn't because they were siblings...right? And though he thought the information was of relatively little importance, he couldn't believe that he would ever have forgotten _anything_ he had once learned. So either this girl was not Sakura's actual sister – very likely – or Sakura had just never mentioned a sibling to him before – highly unlikely given her chattiness in their genin days.

Satisfied with his conclusion, he considered asking her outright to prove his correctness, but it was then that another cheery voice called out to Sakura.

"Ah! Good morning, Sakura-sama!" a woman behind the front desk, dressed in the uniform of a Konoha nurse, chirped happily as her eyes landed on the pink-haired girl at his side, fully passing over him.

It didn't escape his notice that this woman addressed Sakura with the very respectful -sama suffix.

"Good morning, Reika-san! How have you been? How's little Mika-chan doing?" Sakura responded in the same tone as the older woman.

"Oh, we're both fine. She got over her little cold the day after you left and is sleeping much better now," the woman answered Sakura's question, the bright smile of her's never wavering. "What about you? Is Tsunade-sama overworking you again?"

"Not at all," Sakura answered, laughing cheerily.

Sasuke continued to watch the conversation with mild interest.

Reika laughed as well before quipping: "Which of course means that by this time next week you'll be singing a different tune."

"Well, of course," Sakura answered before politely excusing herself and walking towards an elevator.

Sasuke was once again right behind her and was half thinking she had forgotten about him. He watched her press the up button, and then she crossed her arms and finally glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He was unashamedly watching her, and when she caught his gaze, she turned her eyes back forward quickly.

"Tsunade-shishou's office is on the top floor of the hospital. Neji will probably already be there when we arrive since he's always early, but Kakashi-sensei will be late on principal, even if it's only by a few minutes. Still, I can't risk potentially having to wait around for him all day if he doesn't decide to be prompt. So, that being said, I'll be leaving you with Neji as soon as we get there," she told him, staring at the reflective elevator doors.

There was a _ping_ sound, and the doors of the elevator slid open and Sakura walked in without looking at him. As seemed to be rapidly becoming a usual activity for him, he followed her, and the doors slid shut behind him.

It was then that he remembered what kind of work Sakura had to go do – she would be working with Juugo this morning to try and cure him. He felt an old feeling of concern for her creep up on him.

"Sakura?" he called her name to get her attention.

Again she looked startled that he had broken the silence between them.

"Yes, Sasuke-kun?" she answered, sparing him a fleeting glance as the elevator _pinged_ again and the doors slid open.

As they walked out of the elevator and down a hallway that seemed to be filled with offices and laboratories, he told her what he felt he needed to say.

"Be careful with Juugo. He does not intentionally cause harm, but if he starts to behave abnormally, make sure he's locked up, and make sure you're not anywhere near him," Sasuke explained, the odd feeling of worry lessening as he gave her his warning.

Sakura seemed to consider his words before she nodded. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind," she murmured as she came to a stop outside a closed door with Tsunade's name on it.

Sakura knocked once and waited patiently. A few seconds later, the door opened to reveal none other than Hyuuga Neji.

"Sakura, it's nice to see you again," Neji spoke, his tone formal, but sincere, and a small smile on his lips.

"It's nice to see you too, Neji. When did you get back?" Sakura replied happily.

And that was when Sasuke finally noticed how her reserved attitude seemed to be saved only for him. She had worn a bright smile on her face for the little girl Moegi, the nurse Reika, and she wore one even now for Hyuuga Neji of all people.

"The afternoon you guys left," Neji answered her. "By the way, I believe it was Tenten's intention to try and visit you here this afternoon."

"Well then, that means I should go and get my work outside of the hospital done as quickly as I can so that I'm actually here if she stops by," Sakura said simply, her smile unwavering. "So I guess I'll leave Sasuke-kun in your care, Neji. And don't forget that I need to see you for a checkup soon."

Neji nodded in acknowledgement.

Then Sakura turned her attention to Sasuke and briefly met his eyes.

"Goodbye, Sasuke-kun," she spoke softly, her bright smile instantly weakening.

And it bothered him.

"Hn," he managed to mutter before she had turned away and strolled down the hall back towards the elevators, leaving Sasuke alone with Neji.

"Come inside, Uchiha," Neji ordered, his voice cold.

Sasuke instantly adopted an equally cold attitude, straightening his posture as he strode past Neji into the Godaime's office – Neji had been a rival in the past, and even now, when Neji was supposed to be interrogating him, it was hard not to think of him as such. There were three chairs set up – two behind the desk, and one in front of it. Before Neji could motion to the lone chair, Sasuke had already seated himself in it. Meanwhile, Neji had strolled behind the desk and had taken a seat in one of the two chairs there, his elbows propped on the desk before him, his fingers interlaced, and his gaze fixed on Sasuke over the top of his linked hands.

Neither of the young men spoke for several minutes, choosing to glare at each other instead.

"You're lucky Tsunade-sama likes Naruto and Sakura so much or else you wouldn't be sitting here right now," Neji finally broke the silence, his face impassive, his voice chilly. "You'd have been dragged into a proper interrogation room this morning from a proper jail cell to meet with a proper interrogator just like your _teammates_," Neji emphasized the last word as if he were stressing his contempt.

Sasuke blinked. Was that the real reason his punishment was so easy? Because the Hokage favoured his teammates? He didn't deign Neji's comment worthy of a response however.

It didn't seem to matter to the Hyuuga though. He continued on in spite of Sasuke's silence.

"You don't deserve such devoted friends like Naruto and Sakura," Neji said with conviction, as if his words were the absolute truth.

And somehow, Sasuke found himself internally agreeing. It was something he had never thought before, but hearing it so plainly from Neji, he suddenly found he couldn't think otherwise. He had left Naruto and Sakura and had tried to forget them while they had searched for him and had never given up on him – he really didn't deserve them.

A poof in the room interrupted his revelry before he could delve further into his own mind, and the fact that he couldn't disagree with Neji was temporarily forgotten. Kakashi now stood behind the Hyuuga, his usual orange book held in one hand while his other hand was raised in a lazy greeting.

"Yo," he said happily, taking a seat next to Neji and shutting his book, putting it away in his pocket. "How did your night go, Sasuke? Naruto didn't make too much noise I hope," Kakashi continued in the same light manner.

Sasuke said nothing, not deigning what he recognized as Kakashi's teasing worthy of a reply.

Kakashi's eye crinkled as a hidden smile came to his lips.

"Then let's get right down to business," Kakashi said, his tone instantly becoming serious.

* * *

It was nearly two hours later that Sasuke had answered the last of the two jounin's questions. The reason the both of them were present at this supposed interrogation was so that Neji could analyse the truthfulness of Sasuke's responses from a more objective point of view, while Kakashi's job was to use his knowledge of Sasuke to probe for more detailed responses and to judge him based on his own experiences with the boy.

In Kakashi's mind, Sasuke had passed. He had revealed what clearly sounded like all he knew about the Land of Sound, the Otogakure bases and hideouts, Orochimaru's experiments, and how he had defeated the snake sannin all with minor prodding. Sasuke's knowledge of Kabuto and the collection of various Oto shinobi had been less detailed, but still he had answered the questions to the best of his abilities. Questions about whether he had betrayed any knowledge of Konoha to Orochimaru or anyone else were answered with brief, but firm noes. And questions about the team he had formed, his search for Itachi, and the brothers' final battle were answered without emotion – but even then Kakashi could not doubt the complete truthfulness in Sasuke's replies.

Neji seemed to agree with him, having used the Byakugan to help him study Sasuke in his responses, which only bolstered Kakashi's confidence. Now, it was time for the last strain of questioning – questions that he needed to ask now that all those that Tsunade had given him when she had spoken with him last night were answered.

"Do you really intend to remain here, Sasuke? Even after you have regained access to your chakra?" Kakashi asked, watching his student carefully. Kakashi noted that Neji was also paying extra close attention, the pen he had been using to record Sasuke's responses now lying on the desk.

"Yes," Sasuke replied firmly, and Kakashi felt the conviction behind the response that just hadn't been there in any significant amount the other two times Sasuke had made a similar claim.

Kakashi's visible eye softened, but it was his job to help Sasuke find his way again, to help save the boy's life. After all, Kakashi couldn't help but blame himself in part for Sasuke's behaviour – he had been his teacher. So, Kakashi voiced another important question: "Why?"

The question seemed to momentarily catch Sasuke off guard, but he composed himself and answered.

"Do you remember when we first met you and I told you I had two goals? To kill a certain man and to revive my clan? I've only completed one of those goals. The Uchiha name still needs to be revived – and it needs to be revived here in Konoha, the village the Uchiha helped to build and protect," Sasuke told him, meeting his eye.

Kakashi watched Sasuke carefully, and knew that this was the truth, but he needed to see if there was more to it than _just _that.

"Neji, I think we're done now, so if you could please go and find Tsunade-sama and send her here – she informed me yesterday that she would be pulling a shift at the hospital this morning in anticipation of our work. I'll deliver your notes to her when she arrives, but give her a quick breakdown of your evaluation when you find her. Then you should be free to go," Kakashi instructed Neji

"Of course, Kakashi-san," Neji replied, immediately standing to take his leave. And with one final considering glance at Sasuke, Neji left the room, closing the door quietly behind him, leaving Kakashi alone with Sasuke.

Kakashi waited a few seconds while he listened to Neji walk down the hallway before posing his final question.

"Do you have any other reasons to stay here – other than reviving your clan?" Kakashi prodded. If Sasuke said nothing else, then Kakashi would be sure that Sasuke really hadn't learned anything from him.

Sasuke looked down, but Kakashi wasn't dissuaded by the action. His non-answer was better than a flat out no.

"What about Naruto and Sakura?" he suggested softly, his eye never leaving Sasuke.

Sasuke actually flinched.

"I don't deserve them," he finally murmured, staring at the hands now clenched into fists in his lap.

Kakashi couldn't know that his question had made Sasuke think again of Neji's words to him and how truthfully they had resonated.

"No. Maybe not," Kakashi replied simply, though inside he was rejoicing Sasuke's answer and body language. It revealed more about Sasuke's feelings for the two than practically any other answer would have. Sasuke obviously cared.

"But it doesn't matter if you deserve them or not," Kakashi continued, "because they're never going to give up on you, and neither am I. You've received the Hokage's mercy, and our forgiveness. So now you're left with two choices, whether you'll accept our devotion or betray your bonds again."

Kakashi watched as Sasuke's usually impassive face exposed a wave of emotion.

"How can I not accept it?" Sasuke whispered hoarsely.

And Kakashi smiled because he now had confirmation that his teachings hadn't been entirely in vain.

* * *

Sasuke really didn't deserve his teammates devotion at all. Neji was right, and Kakashi...well, he was right too. Sasuke knew by now that Naruto and Sakura wouldn't give up on him, and apparently Kakashi included himself in their camp. Sasuke also knew that Kakashi was right in that it would be the ultimate betrayal of his ties with his teammates if he still tried to sever their bonds even now – especially when he had absolutely no reason to.

He had said that his, Naruto, and Sakura's paths had rejoined, but not only had their paths rejoined – Naruto and Sakura were walking down that path right at his side...he just hadn't been willing to see how very close they were until now.

It had been no more than a minute since he had spoken his last words to Kakashi and the jounin was still observing him with that softened, happy look. It was a little disconcerting in that it eerily reminded Sasuke of how his sensei would gaze upon the pages of his little orange book. Sasuke was very grateful when the door swung open and Tsunade strolled in, her heels emitting sharp clicks as they smacked against the ground.

Kakashi stood, and Sasuke copied him with minimal complaint. This woman was the Hokage of the village he wished to make a life in, and she had spared him. She had his grudging respect.

"Sit down," she said, and he gladly reclaimed his seat. Meanwhile, Tsunade strolled behind the desk and took the seat that Neji had vacated earlier, while Kakashi remained standing, pulling out that damned little orange book (hadn't he already read it enough times?) and leaning against the wall behind her, bringing the book up in front of his face.

"So you're all done with the interview?" Tsunade asked, her voice even, her expression mildly amused as she took in Kakashi's figure.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Kakashi answered without taking his eyes off his book.

"And?" Tsunade prompted, drumming her fingers on the top of the desk.

"Both Hyuuga Neji and myself believe that Uchiha Sasuke has answered all our present questions honestly and to his complete knowledge. I have Neji's notes as well as my own, and both of us are prepared to discuss the interview with you at your leisure," Kakashi elaborated in his lazy drawl.

"Good. Then that means that Uchiha is ready to begin his community service and I know just how he'll start," Tsunade said with a small smile before addressing Sasuke directly. "Sasuke, you will be on Sakura's service today until she finishes her shift. She's returned from the prison and should now be in one of the labs down the hall. When she's done her work for the day, you'll be free to go and Sakura can escort you out of the hospital. Tomorrow and every subsequent day, unless you're told otherwise, you will report to the front desk at nine am. When you arrive, whoever's there will tell you what you need to do. Is all that understood?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," he answered her smoothly.

Inside though, his mind was racing. He had to spend the whole day following after Sakura and doing whatever she requested? Could this be the something else that Tsunade had had in mind when she had chosen the hospital as the site for his community service? Her smile seemed to scream yes.

"Then you're dismissed, Uchiha. You should be able to find her easily enough. Get going."

* * *

Sasuke did indeed find Sakura easily enough. Her bright pink hair was a dead giveaway when he looked through the window set in the door of the right lab room. He didn't bother knocking, and instead opened the door and entered the room slowly. Sakura gave no outward indication that she had noticed his presence except for a slight stiffening of her shoulders.

"Hey," he greeted her.

She didn't turn around.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him without pulling her eyes away from the microscope in front of her. Her voice was not accusing or angry, but it clearly betrayed her surprise.

"The Hokage said that today my job is to be on your service," Sasuke answered her.

They lapsed into a silence as she said nothing in response, simply continuing to stare down into the microscope. And again, he couldn't take the unusual quiet.

"What are you looking at?" he inquired, his voice neutral, though he was in fact a little curious.

Sakura answered him while she fiddled with a knob on the side of the microscope: "A sample of Juugo's blood."

"Why?" he pushed. He would not allow complete silence to reign over their time together. It was too unnatural.

"The more detailed biochemical analyses I'm running on the rest of the blood I took from him won't be done until tomorrow, and I had some time to kill before I needed to be down in the clinic. I hate sitting around here and doing nothing, so I decided to see if I could see any physical differences in his blood cells or if they're completely normal," she elaborated, becoming more animated even as her eyes stayed transfixed on whatever was under the microscope's powerful lenses.

"So all you did this morning was draw some blood from him?" he continued.

"I have to start somewhere. The only knowledge I have right now is the supposed fact that an enzyme causes all this, and an enzyme is just a protein that catalyses a chemical reaction in the body. So ultimately, what I need to do is determine what cells the protein's made in, where it works in the body, and what it does – and then hopefully it'll be as simple as finding something that will stop the enzyme's production or inhibit its function. Without a sample of the enzyme though, I can't really hope to do anything, so my first goal is to find and isolate the protein so that I can begin my analysis of it.

"That's why this morning I took Juugo's vitals and his basic biometrics, as well as a blood sample and a tissue sample. I already looked at part of the tissue sample under the microscope, so all that's left for me to do today is to finish checking out the blood sample, and then tomorrow I'll be able to check the results of most of my tests on the samples," Sakura finished explaining, finally pulling away from the microscope and picking up a pen lying on the table to scribble some notes on a clipboard beside her.

Sasuke was smart. He had never really studied the human body in any extreme detail, but he could follow along with Sakura's explanation well enough to get an idea of what she was doing. He also noted that when she was talking about her medical work – and not looking at him–, she was a lot more like the talkative, know-it-all Sakura in his memories.

"Hn," he muttered, a small smirk coming to his lips. This was what was familiar.

Sakura didn't seem to hear him though, because all she did was straighten, stretching her arms high above her head and arching her spine backwards. He could hear the tiny pops as her back cracked under the slight pressure. When she straightened back out, she flicked a switch on the microscope, presumably turning it off, and then picked the clipboard up from the table and walked over to him.

"So you're really on my service today?" she asked him when she was right in front of him, her voice noticeably quieter and less assertive, and her eyes staring straight ahead where all they would see was his chin. Sasuke absently noted that though he had grown substantially during his time with Orochimaru, he was only a few inches taller than her – however he was considerably bigger than her and her petite frame what with his broad shoulders and obviously more muscled body.

"Yes," he replied simply.

Sakura nodded once before allowing a small smile to come to her lips. Then she strode past him and opened the door, taking a moment to call over her shoulder: "Well come on then. I need to visit my office, and then we're going down to the clinic."

Sasuke walked out of the lab as Sakura held the door open for him. When he had passed through, Sakura shut the door behind them, and pulled a small ring of keys from the weapons holster attached at her thigh. She locked the door before turning and motioning down the hall, saying: "My office is this way."

She led him down the hallway, back past Tsunade's closed office door and finally to a simple wooden door with the name Haruno Sakura on it. She slipped another key into the door before turning the knob, and then swung the door open to reveal her office.

It was as big as Tsunade's. That was the first thing that Sasuke noticed.

Then he took in the large window – the curtains that would usually frame it drawn closed – opposite the door, and the desk in front of it, whose surface was covered with open books and loose papers. Two chairs sat in the room, one behind the desk, one in front of it, both with padded seats and backrests. The walls were lined with pictures illustrating various aspects of the human body – diagrams of the circulatory system, the respiratory system, and the chakra circulatory system were the largest and most notable – and a few shelves bearing the weight of various medical texts. The room also possessed a wardrobe, a couch, and a reading lamp.

Sakura motioned to the couch and told him to take a seat while she strolled over to her desk. As Sasuke lay down on the couch, putting his hands behind his head as a makeshift pillow, Sakura closed a few of the books on her desk and quickly organized some papers before opening a drawer and depositing her clipboard within it. Then she walked over to the wardrobe, where she opened one of its two mirrored doors to reveal a rack of outfits Sasuke recognized as those worn by the hospital staff.

Sakura reached past those and pulled out a simple white lab coat, which she slipped into, leaving it unbuttoned. She took another glance around the room before finally grabbing a pen off the desk and slipping it into her breast pocket.

"Alright. Let's go, Sasuke-kun."

* * *

Sakura should have known that Tsunade would stick Sasuke with her – after they had left her office last night, the Godaime probably hadn't given a second thought to the fact that Sasuke was supposed to start his community service today. The woman probably also thought that she had just done a _good_ thing. Not that Sakura was entirely unhappy with the situation – this way she could watch Sasuke and try to relieve her doubts – but she couldn't even meet his eyes for very long because she was afraid of what she would see there. The only time she had been able to talk to him like she really wanted to was when she was discussing the beginnings of her research on Juugo's problem – and even that had only worked so well because half her mind had been more focussed on the slide she had been studying than her uncertainties about Sasuke.

Still, Sakura had noticed how he had warned her about Juugo earlier and how he had made the effort to speak to her twice now this morning. It wasn't a miracle that warranted a celebration, but it was enough to cast some more of her doubt aside. From his behaviour, it didn't _seem_ like he wanted nothing to do with her and Naruto, but it just wasn't enough yet to make her unafraid of losing him and non-hesitant in her interactions with him.

She glanced at Sasuke out of the corner of her eye. He was sitting on a chair inside of her exam room while she waited for her next patient to show up with their file. So far, he had been dutifully returning stacks of patient files to the front desk every few patients she saw, and twice he had gone to the supply room: once to fetch her more syringes and the second time to get her more tongue depressors. She imagined the most annoying part for him though was not the menial tasks, but having to go sit outside the room every time she actually checked out a patient. Surprisingly he hadn't once complained – not that he had ever been the type to complain, but even Sakura would have been bored of the make-work she was giving him.

Sakura sighed and drummed her fingers against the counter where her medical tools rested, letting her mind drift away from the present and thinking about her encounter with Juugo that morning.

It had been pleasant and informative. She had done a routine checkup, and had also taken a blood sample and a tissue sample in the hopes that she might be able to isolate the enzyme from one of the two. She had also confirmed that Juugo was perfectly healthy – well, except for whatever caused his rages – and that he was indeed the kind soul she had imagined. She had learned how he liked animals and could communicate with them, and that he enjoyed reading. She had promised to bring him some books when she visited again tomorrow and had privately resolved to find him a pet once she had succeeded in helping him.

Because she would succeed. She had to.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts and she hopped to her feet just as the door swung open without invitation and Tenten strolled into the room. The weapons mistress spared a surprised glance for Sasuke, before her full attention was turned to Sakura.

"Hey you," Tenten greeted her, forking over her patient file. "So, I was eating my lunch when I suddenly remembered you saying how I was due for a checkup the last time we talked – I figured I might as well get it out of the way and come visit you all at the same time now that you're back."

"Hey yourself," Sakura replied in kind, flipping through the folder until she spotted the new form one of the nurses had added to Tenten's file for this session. "Want to take a seat?"

Sasuke immediately stood and strode out the door into the hallway where he had another chair set up, used to the routine by now. The second the door had closed behind him, Tenten was hopping up onto the examination table and studying Sakura with calculating eyes.

"Okay. What's going on? I come back from a mission only to hear that you've left the village a few hours earlier. Then yesterday, I suddenly hear that Sasuke's back and that Neji has to go interrogate him this morning? And now the Uchiha's hanging around you like some lost puppy? Spill!"

"Is your desire for gossip the real reason you came to visit me? I'm hurt Tenten," Sakura muttered grabbing a tongue depressor. "Now open your mouth." She didn't give Tenten a chance to argue as she shoved the little wooden stick into the kunoichi's mouth, pressing down on her tongue.

Her friendship with Tenten had come around much like her friendship with Hinata had: a few missions with Team Gai early in her apprenticeship with Tsunade had been more than enough to push the two kunoichi together given the males that had surrounded them – a serious Neji, an energetic Lee, and the unbelievable _youthful_ Gai. But their friendship was a lot more like her friendship with Ino than her relationship with Hinata. Tenten was not in any way quiet like the Hyuuga heiress – she was confident in herself, could be very loud and fierce like Ino, and was pushy when the need arose. Also, though she may not have known Sakura as long or as well as Ino did, she did have an insight into people – maybe from hanging around Neji too much – and she had long ago recognized how much Sakura really cared for Sasuke.

It was through Sakura that Ino, Hinata, and Tenten had come to know each other well. The four kunoichi were not the oldest of friends, but their relationship was solid, built on their many interactions, their shared relationships, the bonds forged in battle, and their common beliefs, goals, and ambitions. A spontaneous girls' night to celebrate their success in the second chunin exam had only sealed the deal and now all four kunoichi were as fiercely loyal to each other as they were to their teammates.

"How did you hear that Sasuke-kun was back and that Neji was needed this morning to assist with the interrogation anyways? We only got in yesterday around dinnertime and everything after that took at the very least another hour and a half," Sakura questioned Tenten as she pulled the tongue depressor from her friend's mouth, tossing it into a trash can.

"I was training with Neji last night when Tsunade sent word to him, so I heard the general details," Tenten answered simply.

"You were training last night after dinner?" Sakura asked in disbelief, raising her eyebrows. It wouldn't have been such an odd thing to hear if Sakura hadn't known that Tenten would have already been training most of the morning and afternoon.

Tenten blushed a little. "Who am I to say no to more training? I _am_ preparing for the jounin exam if you remember," Tenten pointed out after a second.

Sakura turned away to get her blood pressure cuff with a small smile on her lips. She knew the real reason Tenten would never say no to more training with workaholic Neji, even if she had been working herself all day. It was because Tenten felt for Neji what Sakura felt for Sasuke and what shy Hinata obviously felt for Naruto. So she let it go.

"We set out with the goal of finding Uchiha Itachi so that we could find Sasuke. We soon found ourselves on Sasuke's trail though. Two days ago, we found and retrieved Sasuke after he had succeeded in killing Itachi," Sakura instead began explaining, adjusting the cuff around Tenten's arm. "I healed his wounds and then yesterday we headed for home. On the way, we ran into a team he had assembled to help him find Itachi and we ended up bringing them here with us as well. They were jailed when we got here, while Tsunade-shishou dealt with Sasuke on the spot. For leaving the village, he was sentenced to a year's community service here at the hospital with his chakra completely sealed off. Also, he's not allowed to ever leave the village without Tsunade-shishou's permission again, and for the time being he has to live next door to Naruto."

"What?" Tenten spluttered, her eyes going wide. "She actually included living next to Naruto as part of his punishment?"

"Well she didn't say it was part of his punishment per say, but it was part of her conditions for him if he wanted to remain in Konoha a relatively free man," Sakura explained with a smile, removing the cuff from Tenten's arm and going to place it on the counter. She imagined that if she took Tenten's blood pressure again right now, it would be higher in the young woman's shocked amusement.

Tenten laughed. "I absolutely adore that woman," she commented. "You are so lucky you got to train under her, Sakura."

"Oh really?" Sakura muttered darkly, thinking of the numerous bruises and broken bones she had received while training under Tsunade – and knowing that even so, she would never have given up the years she had spent training under the Godaime for anything.

She reached for a stethoscope and motioned for Tenten to pull up her shirt so that she could listen to Tenten's lungs and heart. Then Sakura walked up behind the other girl, putting the earpieces of the stethoscope into her ears, and holding its cold metal head to Tenten's skin. Tenten tensed and let out a little yelp as the cold metal touched her back, but almost instantly relaxed as Sakura flooded the metal with a little bit of chakra to warm it.

"Really," Tenten answered Sakura, before taking the deep breaths she knew were expected of her.

After Sakura had moved the head of the stethoscope to her chest and finished her listening, Tenten began speaking again: "I wish I had thought to ask Tsunade-sama to train me, but then again, I wouldn't have been able to learn half as much from her as you did with your crazy chakra control, ridiculous dedication, and sponge like brain."

Sakura stuck out her tongue.

"Was that supposed to be a compliment?" she grumbled, grabbing the pen from her pocket and scribbling down Tenten's blood pressure and a few other quick notes on the empty form. She heard Tenten's happy laugh and smiled. It had been a while since her and Tenten had spent any time together.

"Have you experienced any sort of pain recently?" Sakura then prodded, continuing with her exam.

Tenten shook her head no.

"Any nausea? Lightheadedness or dizziness? Problems sleeping? Any swelling or tenderness of joints? Any other problems?"

Tenten answered each question with a no.

"What about the sprained ankle you sustained a few months back? Has it bothered you any? Sometimes the ligaments aren't as tight or as strong when healed, though we do try our best to make them as good as new. It still amazes me how you managed to tear up nearly _all _the ligaments in your right ankle at the same time," Sakura continued with a grin, flipping through Tenten's file.

"Yeah, yeah. I jumped from too high. I was stupid. So, rub it in my face, because Neji doesn't do _that_ enough," Tenten answered, rolling her eyes, before becoming more serious. "It's fine though. I haven't felt a twinge of pain since you fixed it up."

"Good," Sakura muttered absently as she scribbled more notes down on Tenten's form.

"So am I all done now? Do I pass your inspection? Am I still fit to serve as a kunoichi of Konoha, oh great Sakura-sama?" Tenten asked teasingly as she hopped down from the examination table.

"For now. Next time though, you're due for a checkup on your eyesight and a more detailed full body exam complete with annoying poking and prodding," Sakura noted, stacking Tenten's file on top of the ones from two of her previous patients. "But for now, you're perfectly healthy. So you can get lost, you gossip monger," Sakura teased.

"Alright, alright. I get it. You want to spend more time with the Uchiha," Tenten muttered, her lips tilted into a slight smirk.

Sakura immediately sent a tongue depressor flying at the other kunoichi's head, but the flimsy wooded projectile flew slowly through the air and Tenten, used to faster, more deadly projectiles flying at her, had more than ample time to duck. Sakura told herself the reason for her action was because Tenten was being stupid, not because Tenten was right. She was in denial.

"Why was he sitting in here anyways? I thought you said he was supposed to be doing community service," Tenten asked, her smirk now huge, as she straightened up.

"Apparently Tsunade-shishou decided that for today, community service means Sakura's service," Sakura explained. "Personally, I think she either forgot that someone needs to assign Sasuke his work or she thinks that in doing this she's doing a good thing by me. Most likely it's a combination of both."

"From your stories that sounds like something she might do," Tenten giggled.

"Yeah, yeah. So...when are you guys leaving?" Sakura enquired, getting serious and putting her hands on her hips, staring Tenten down. Tenten's giggles cut off and she also adopted a sombre look. Sakura knew her friend well. She wouldn't visit her in the hospital unless she knew she would be leaving too soon to see her outside of work.

"This evening. We were actually going to leave this morning originally, but since Tsunade-sama wanted Neji to assist with Sasuke's interrogation we put off leaving until that was done. It's a simple mission and we won't be gone too long...just a little over a week," Tenten replied.

"Well then, be safe, watch out for your silly teammates, don't jump from too high," Sakura began and Tenten squawked in protest, "and come back in one piece please. I don't want to be patching you up again – or any of the men for that matter. Alright?"

Then Sakura engulfed Tenten in a strong hug which Tenten returned just as enthusiastically.

_THUD._

The sound was so loud that it startled both kunoichi who pulled away from each other just before the earth started trembling beneath their feet. The tremor lasted no more than a moment, and then, as quickly as it had started, it stopped, and they were left wondering what could have caused it. Natural earthquakes were not the norm in Konoha. So they waited, tense with anticipation, to see if an alarm would go off. When everything remained quiet and peaceful after a minute, the two shrugged it off.

"Well that was strange. But I'll take it as a sign that I better go start packing. Girls' night out when I get back, okay?" Tenten said as she walked towards the door. When her hand settled around the doorknob, she turned her head back to look at Sakura. "Take care of yourself."

Sakura nodded and Tenten opened the door to reveal Sasuke seated in his chair with his elbows on his knees, and his chin resting on the interlaced fingers of his hands.

"Sasuke," Tenten acknowledged him now, with a curt nod of the head, before heading towards the hospital's exit.

Sasuke stood up and strolled back into the examination room when Tenten had turned down the hallway, taking his seat on the extra chair in there. When he was all settled, he looked up at her and voiced a question: "What was that noise?"

"No idea," Sakura answered him, preparing to clean off the examination table. "I imagine we'll find out sometime later today."

Sometime later today turned out to be sooner than she thought.

A few minutes later, after she had finished sterilizing the exam table, a chunin she recognized from the Hokage Tower threw open the door to the examination room, startling Sakura who had drawn a kunai from her holster on reflex. Sasuke was also on his feet, tensed in the basic stance for hand-to-hand combat.

"Tsunade-sama requires your immediate presence at the Hokage Tower," the chunin told her, gasping for breath.

"Whatever for?" Sakura asked calmly, even as she gathered her patients' files into her arms.

"I'm not sure. She only said that it was urgent. I think it may have something to do with the giant toad that suddenly appeared there," the chunin told her.

'_That must have been the source of the noise and the tremor,'_ Sakura noted as she immediately moved past the chunin and out the door, Sasuke right on her heels. Seconds later she was dropping her patients' files into Reika's hands, and then she was striding out the door and into the streets of Konoha.

* * *

Sasuke followed behind Sakura. It was better than staying in the hospital, and frankly he was curious. A giant toad? Hadn't Naruto summoned one of those when he was facing off against Gaara?

Sakura was running, moving quickly through the people on the streets, and he was right in her wake – they were nothing more than two blurs, and no one had the chance to take notice of them. While he ran, keeping track of Sakura's pink hair, he thought about the conversation he had overheard between Tenten and Sakura. He hadn't been trying to listen in, but the door to the exam room wasn't all that thick and the two girls spoke loudly.

He hadn't learned much from their conversation though except that the two kunoichi were close friends now. They must have gotten to know each other sometime after he had left because he never remembered the two talking before then. In fact, it seemed like Sakura was now friendly with everyone. She had been chatting pleasantly with Kiba on the journey back yesterday and had even addressed Shino with clear familiarity. And on the basis of the short exchange between Neji and Sakura, he concluded that the Hyuuga seemed to know her well too.

A minute later, his thoughts abruptly shifted direction as he caught sight of a giant toad, another large toad perched on his head, sitting in the street next to the Hokage Tower. Sakura spared them a calculating glance before climbing the stairs to Tsunade's office. When they reached the room, Sakura knocked politely, and upon a command to come in, the two of them opened the doors and entered.

Sai was there, Sasuke noted, as were Tsunade, her assistant Shizune if he remembered correctly, and some strange toads, one looking particularly ancient.

"Hey, Ugly," Sai greeted Sakura.

"Sai," she returned rather warmly considering the insult the other shinobi had just thrown her way. Then Sakura turned her attention to Tsunade, who was sitting behind her desk, Shizune standing beside her. "Tsunade-shishou, what happened? What's wrong?"

"We'll wait for Naruto and Kakashi," Tsunade answered her. Sasuke thought the woman sounded exhausted.

Silence followed Tsunade's declaration until Naruto's loud voice was heard outside the door.

"What does baa-chan have to tell me? Why couldn't it wait? It's so early!" he complained.

"Naruto, it's past noon," Kakashi patiently explained as the door swung open, and Naruto strolled in, followed by Kakashi, only to stop short when he caught sight of the group.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Sasuke kind of wanted to know too, and it wasn't long before he found out.

Apparently the old toad, Fukasuka, had been one of Jiraiya's teachers, and after that brief introduction – in which Naruto made a few derogatory comments about the toad and Tsunade scolded him – the truth came out.

"Jiraiya-chan was killed in battle," Fukasaku finally croaked.


	5. You be the Anchor

Authoress' Notes: It's a little dry, but we need to get through this. And yes I killed off Jiraiya. Gomennasai! I tried to think of a way Itachi's meddlesome awesomeness could influence Jiraiya's outcome but the only ways I could think to do it were just silly and didn't really work with the flow of the story.

Also, no one's commented on it yet, but I'm answering this in anticipation of the question: Why doesn't Sasuke seem all that affected by Itachi's death? The answer is simple: In my opinion, right after killing Itachi, Sasuke was pretty much an empty shell because the very thing he had lived for, for years and years, was done...and what else did he have left? Then the first thing he's thrown into is a world with an emotional Sakura and an optimistic Naruto (instead of an evil, manipulative Madara)? It only makes sense that the first emotions to come back to the surface are the ones relevant to his teammates...but that doesn't mean we won't have to deal with an angsty Sasuke later... Does that sound ominous? It really isn't meant to.

* * *

**Chapter 5 - You be the Anchor**

_And honestly I have been begging for answers, that you and only you can give to me._

_A voice crying loud, I've been crying for days now, and as I start to run, I stop to breathe._

_(And I was nearly scared to death) And I was nearly scared to death,_

_(Of what you left in paragraphs) Of what you left in paragraphs,_

_(The words were nearly over us) The words were nearly over us,_

_You stop and turn and grab your bags._

_And I'll be here by the ocean, just waiting for proof that there's sunsets and silhouette dreams._

_All my sand castles fall like the ashes of cigarettes, and every wave drags me to sea._

_- You be the Anchor that Keeps my Feet on the Ground; I'll be the Wings that Keep your Heart in the Clouds, Mayday Parade_

* * *

"Huh?" Naruto voiced, looking confused. "Wh-what are you saying?"

Then Fukasaku proceeded to tell them the story of Jiraiya's final battle. And while the toad continued to explain what had happened, Sasuke watched from his place next to Sakura as Naruto seemed to be crumbling right before his eyes. Gone was the blond's happy smile, gone was his boisterous personality. He looked like nothing more than a shadow of himself. He looked utterly broken.

He looked like Sasuke had when his whole world had been turned upside down.

"Durin' his fight, Pain crushed poor Jiraiya-chan's throat. Before he fell fer the last time, he left one final message. An' here it is," the toad said, turning around and removing his cloak to reveal a bunch of numbers that looked almost as if they were carved into his back.

"A code..." Shizune whispered in the silence that fell upon the room.

Fukasaku fastened his cloak back around his shoulders and turned to face them again. "He did it so Pain wouldn't know what he was sayin'. This here's what Jiraiya-chan died for," the toad explained.

"Baa-chan...did you send him there?" Naruto suddenly asked, staring down at the ground. His voice was low and level, and even though Sasuke couldn't see Naruto's face, he knew all too well that if he could, he would see shock and pain there. Sasuke's own pain had dulled after many years, and the anger that had replaced it had also dulled now with no target to direct it at, but Sasuke could still vividly remember everything he had gone through.

"Yes," Tsunade answered him firmly.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Naruto yelled angrily, looking up to meet Tsunade's eyes. "You know how Ero-sennin got! Why did you let him go on such a risky–"

"Enough, Naruto," Kakashi cut Naruto off firmly. "You should understand exactly how the Godaime feels."

Sasuke watched as Naruto stared Kakashi down, before suddenly whirling around on his heel.

"Fuck this," he muttered, heading for the door.

"Naruto, where are you going?" Sakura called after him.

"If he'd been the Godaime, he'd never have made you go on that mission, Tsunade baa-chan," Naruto spoke quietly from the doorway, ignoring Sakura, with all of the shock, hurt, and anger he felt plain in his voice.

And then Naruto left, slamming the door behind him.

Sakura immediately made to go after him, but Sasuke grabbed her wrist.

"Let him be," he told her. He didn't know what kind of relationship Naruto and Jiraiya had had, but given what little Naruto had told him last night about his time with Jiraiya coupled with the pain Naruto seemed to be feeling right now, he could take a stab at how important the old man had been to Naruto. Naruto had just lost one of his most precious people forever, and Sasuke knew all too well what that felt like.

And it was a pain that Sakura didn't know.

"But he's hurting," Sakura insisted, pulling against his grasp, but her attempt was feeble.

"He needs some time alone to grieve," Sasuke replied firmly, not releasing his grip. He knew Sakura meant well, but she couldn't do anything for Naruto right now when the pain was still so raw and new. Naruto needed time to be angry at the world and sad in private first.

After a moment, Sakura sighed heavily and stopped struggling against him, and he let go of her.

"My apologies Fukasaku-sama," Kakashi then began, addressing the elderly toad, "Naruto just needs some time–"

"I understand," Fukasaku interrupted sadly, ducking his head.

A sad silence followed his statement, and Sasuke felt out of place. He hadn't known Jiraiya – only of him – so the news of his death left no deep wound to his heart. That wasn't to say that he felt absolutely nothing. It was there, he acknowledged, a little bit of sadness, but it came in the form of empathy for Naruto – who looked like he was going through hell.

"Sai," Tsunade's commanding voice broke the quiet atmosphere, "go tell Morino Ibiki to assemble his interrogation team outside of headquarters. If he's still not done with the interrogations of Suigetsu and Karin, tell him to put those on hold for now – this is more important. Shizune, go prepare an autopsy room and assemble your team – the body Jiraiya obtained for us will be brought to you. Kakashi, please go inform the village elders of Jiraiya's passing."

The three of them nodded their heads before disappearing from the room, presumably to complete their assigned tasks. Only Sakura, Sasuke, and the toads remained with Tsunade.

"Is there anything you need me to do, shishou?" Sakura asked.

"I know you were going to focus entirely on healing Juugo as soon as you had something to work with, but I'm going to have to ask you to take on a bigger workload at the hospital for a few days," Tsunade told Sakura, her voice having lost its dignified tone. Sasuke thought that instead she now sounded old.

"Of course, shishou," Sakura responded, nodding her head minutely.

And then Tsunade said nothing more as she turned her chair to look out the windows down onto Konoha.

While Tsunade stared down at the village, Sakura could only watch, her heart breaking at the sight before her. Her violent, strong, and loud teacher looked old. But it was understandable that the proud woman looked exhausted and aged. There was no way Tsunade wasn't suffering. Jiraiya's death was a fresh wound to her already scarred heart, and Sakura knew that the loss of yet another one of her important people was surely reminding Tsunade of all the loss she had experienced in her past.

Loss.

It was something that Sakura understood all too well even if she had never experienced its full effects. Its half ass attempts at crippling her had been more than enough for her to get a taste of the wild emotions it could bring: deep sorrow, extreme shock, and violent anger. No. She had never experienced loss as complete as Tsunade, or Sasuke, or now Naruto had, but she didn't need to. The knowledge of their hurt, and that she couldn't fix it, pained her more than enough.

Sakura walked over to Tsunade's desk where she pulled a camera out of one of the drawers. She felt Sasuke's eyes on her as she moved, but now was not the time to think of him. She had to take care of her shishou, and then she could deal with her own frustrating hurt. Everything to do with Sasuke had to be put on hold.

"Fukasaku-sama, I would greatly appreciate it if you would remove your cloak again so that I could take a picture of the code on your back," Sakura said as she turned to the toad who was watching her teacher, his wise old eyes sad and understanding.

"Of course," he told her before turning around and letting the garment pool on the ground.

Sakura snapped the picture and caught the photo as it printed out of the camera.

"Thank you, Fukasaku-sama," she murmured, placing the photo on Tsunade's desk and the camera back into its place while Fukasaku swung his cloak about his shoulders once again.

Tsunade seemed to snap back to attention at the sound of her desk drawer closing.

"Fukasaku-sama. I'm sorry for my lapse in attention. Is there anything more that we need to discuss? Do you need somewhere to stay? All you need to do is ask–" Tsunade began as she turned her chair back around to face the other occupants of the room.

"We toads have our own nooks an' crannies 'round hereabouts," Fukasaku interrupted her. "I thank you fer your hospitality but we'll be fine on our own. An' I'll come see you again tomorrow if that's alright, Tsunade-hime? What more I have to say can wait until then...an' Naruto should really be present. That being said, I'll make sure the toads carryin' the prisoner and the body make it to where they're supposed to fer you."

"Thank you Fukasaku-sama. And yes, another visit tomorrow is fine," Tsunade answered, biting her lip.

"Then until tomorrow," the old toad said before the entire group of toads poofed out of the room. Sakura imagined that the giant toads outside had just disappeared in a similar matter.

But this was good. Now Sakura wouldn't feel as awkward for what she was about to do with no one to watch – well almost no one. She half considered kicking Sasuke out of the room as well, but she figured Tsunade wouldn't mind all too much if he were to witness her next act.

So, Sakura walked to one of the bookshelves and pulled out what looked like an old medical tome. Opening it up revealed that it was in fact a box disguised as a book...a box that contained a full bottle of sake and a little glass. Sakura settled the book on a lower, emptier shelf, and pulled out the two items contained within it. In a practised motion, Sakura removed the bottle's cork and poured a full glass of the alcohol, which she promptly placed in front of her teacher.

"Drink," she ordered.

"Sakura," Tsunade uttered her name slowly, tiredly.

"You need some normalcy right now. So drink, please."

Tsunade stared Sakura down before smiling sadly, acknowledging her defeat and how well the pink haired girl knew her. Then she lifted the cup to her lips and downed its contents.

A knock on the door was perfectly timed with the bottom of the glass hitting the desk as Tsunade brought it down from her lips.

"Come in," the Hokage called, immediately sliding the glass into a drawer and straightening in her seat.

The door opened to reveal Shikamaru, clad in his chunin vest. He walked into the room, looking first past Sasuke to Sakura, and then rapidly shifting his eyes back to the dark-haired shinobi in a classic double take. Sakura watched as his eyes narrowed, and she could practically see the gears turning in his head. He was calculating...thinking...probably piecing together the story of Sasuke's return in his mind based on everything that he knew. He wouldn't be left to it for long though. Already Sakura knew the opportunity Tsunade would see in Shikamaru. She was not disappointed.

"Shikamaru. I have a job for you," the woman began, adopting her stern Hokage voice once again. "Jiraiya was killed in action on his last mission. He managed to leave us this," she continued, thrusting the photograph of the code that Sakura had taken into Shikamaru's hands. "I need you to set about its decoding. So, take that and get to work."

"You mean now?" Shikamaru asked, his disbelief and confusion evident in his voice, and Sasuke clearly temporarily forgotten. "The cryptology squads are all done for the day–"

"Tell them they've been drafted to work directly for the Hokage. Anyways, you're in charge now. Get it done," Tsunade said, using her desk to push herself up from her seat. Then she strolled around the table and started walking towards the door. Sakura recognized the look in her eyes – Tsunade was in pain, but she was also determined to not let Jiraiya's sacrifice be in vain.

"Huh? Wh-where're you going? I came here to talk about something completely different–" Shikamaru trailed off as Tsunade walked past him.

"Shikamaru," Sakura spoke, catching her friend's attention.

"But–" Shikamaru began to protest.

"Tsunade-sama's been working like crazy all day," Sakura told him as Tsunade pulled open the door and strode out of her office.

When the door clicked shut behind her teacher, Shikamaru started again.

"I've got stuff to do," he insisted.

"Please, Shikamaru."

Her face was set in the same expression she had shown him the night he left, Sasuke observed.

Right now, Sakura was pleading with Shikamaru the same way she had pleaded with him to stay with her in Konoha. And seeing her face like that was like a punch to Sasuke's gut. He had betrayed that face, and remembering that now when he was trying to settle back into life in Konoha, when his old relationships were being rebuilt around him, reminded him so much of how he didn't deserve any of it.

Damn Neji for making him think about all that in the first place.

"It's troublesome, but alright. I'll get to work, Sakura," Shikamaru finally answered her, apparently recognizing the quiet desperation and sorrow in her tone as well.

"Thank you, Shikamaru. Thank you," she murmured.

Shikamaru sighed, but pocketed the picture and walked out the door, stopping only once to take a final curious glance back at the pair, apparently understanding that what he was tasked to do was more important right now than Sasuke suddenly being back in Konoha.

It was when the lazy genius left that Sakura broke down.

He watched as she went to Tsunade's desk and pulled out the empty glass Tsunade had hidden in a drawer, all the while thinking that she was going to put it away. Sakura did carry it to where the bottle of sake sat, still open, but instead of putting it away like he thought she would, she grabbed the bottle and poured another full glass. Then she tossed the contents down her own throat.

That was not right. Not that drinking alcohol at their age was really that big a deal, especially for ninja – but this was Sakura. He might not have known her well, or even at all, after all this time, but even he knew this was wrong. This was not her. She had alway been the normal one in their team – the happy, naive, untainted one for all that she was a Konoha kunoichi. Even if she had grown up, even if she might no longer be naive or stainless, Sasuke knew that she wasn't supposed to be chugging back alcohol to drown out whatever was on her mind.

She poured another glass and lifted it to her lips, letting the liquid pass over them and down her throat. When she made to refill the glass a third time Sasuke walked to her side and grabbed her wrist before she could close her hand around the bottle.

"What are you doing, Sakura?" he asked her.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm having a drink," she answered softly, her eyes downcast.

"Why?" he pushed, his grip on her wrist not slackening in the least.

"Because I can't do anything else," she whispered harshly, looking up into his eyes and holding his gaze. "For Naruto, for Tsunade-shishou, for you. All I can do is stand by, knowing the loss hurts you and that there's nothing I can do to fix it...it'll always exist."

And then the tears flooded her eyes.

Sasuke didn't know what to do. Here she was, crying for her teacher and Naruto...and him. Even in this situation, he confirmed that whatever her reason for avoiding his eyes for most of the day and not talking to him with the cheery brightness she seemed to reserve for everyone else, it had nothing to do with how much she cared for him.

As the tears escaped her eyes and started their journey down her face, a wave of his old protectiveness crashed over him, completely unbidden but there nonetheless. Yes, this behaviour of her's was more normal than watching Sakura drink, but it still didn't feel right.

"Come on, Sakura. I'm taking you home," he told her.

That seemed to get her attention. She pulled herself out of his grip and quickly corked the sake bottle, shoving it back into the hollowed out book along with the dirty glass. Then she turned her attention back to Sasuke.

"No. You need clothes and food, and you're not supposed to walk around the village alone yet," she told him firmly, wiping furiously at her tears. "We'll go to your apartment, and then into the shopping district."

"Sakura–" he tried again, but she interrupted him before he could utter anymore than her name.

"Please, Sasuke-kun. I know you may not want to spend time with me but you have to get these errands done and you're not supposed to walk around the village alone for now, so humour me," she told him, her face steeling in resolve.

_I know you may not want to spend time with me_... She sounded so defeated, and as the words echoed in his mind they had the same effect as the flick of a switch as he suddenly remembered the conversation he had overheard last night.

_What if he wants nothing to do with us? _Sakura had asked Naruto that question. Did she really believe that? _'Yes,'_ he realized,_ 'she must.' _In a moment of insight, he realized why she must have been acting so different with him – she thought he might not care for them...for her, and she was guarding herself by putting a barrier of distance between them. He was instantly reminded of the time before their chunin exam when she had mysteriously refused to meet his or Naruto's eyes and hadn't spoken with her usual vigour – until he had encouraged her...

But the reasoning behind her actions was wrong.

Because he had realized that his teammates did matter to him. They had kept hope, they had saved him, and they had given him the chance to start over. Of course they mattered. Naruto mattered, and Kakashi mattered, and she... She mattered to him. He didn't entirely understand his desire to alleviate her doubts, but he acted on it anyways.

"Sakura," he spoke, catching her attention, his eyes meeting her's and silently telling her not to interrupt, "Naruto would be too noisy if I went with home, and Kakashi would spend the entire time with his nose in that book. I would much rather be in your company."

"Don't you find me annoying?" she asked.

She threw the question out, like it was a casual thing. But it was a reminder of their past, and somehow, her question felt like his final test – a chance to prove to her that he was willing to let them into his life.

"Hn. You are annoying. But you're still better company than the other two," he answered her.

The sight that greeted him was a large genuine smile.

_That_ was finally right.

* * *

Sakura walked down the street next to Sasuke, glancing at him every little while out of the corner of her eye. She was taking him down side streets again in an attempt to avoid the stares she knew people would shoot their way – stares they would be unable to avoid when they reached the shopping district. The two of them had already returned to Sasuke's apartment where Tsunade had sent the things from his old apartment as well as some money from the Uchiha account – both which had been maintained for Sasuke by Tsunade at her and Naruto's insistence. Sasuke had grabbed a sum large enough to help him purchase groceries and at least a few new outfits, and then they had set out again.

They walked in silence, but this time, Sakura was enjoying it because it felt normal...right even. Sasuke had been proving her doubts wrong all day, including when he had stopped her from drinking herself into a stupor. She couldn't even remember why she had thought alcohol would be a good solution. For Tsunade it was something normal, a grounding force, and something she could easily handle in small quantities like the glass Sakura had poured for her. For Sakura though, it was numbing, and she could easily drink too much and poison herself...exactly like the only other time she had turned to the toxic beverage...

But the most assuaging things he had done were comment on their teammates in a way he would have only in times past and call her annoying. A normal girl would be insulted, but for her it felt familiar, comforting and oh so right. The biggest thing though, was that given his actions and attitude, it seemed that he wasn't trying to push any of them away anymore. He was simply acting too much like the Sasuke in her memory, if not a little warmer, to be trying to sever their friendship.

In the back of her mind, she still worried for Tsunade and Naruto, but now that she had calmed down and distanced herself from the situation, she knew that Sasuke's words when she had tried to go after Naruto were right. They both needed time alone to grieve for the man they had lost. She would check on them both tomorrow though – that was as much time as she could give them.

She spared another glance at Sasuke and blushed when he caught her staring. She quickly turned away, focussing on the ground. It seemed that their eyes meeting was enough to prompt him into talking because suddenly he was asking her: "How did you take the chunin exam without a three man cell?"

If they had not ever so briefly discussed the topic already this morning, Sakura would have been completely baffled by the question. As it stood, she was only mildly surprised having recognized the subject. Still this particular question caused her a twinge of pain. It reminded her too much of Sasuke leaving, and it didn't seem to matter to the ache in her heart that right now he was back and spending time with her – even if it wasn't entirely by choice.

"You were...on your own. Naruto told me he was...away...as well," Sasuke elaborated hesitantly, and Sakura thought that maybe he had caught on to what had bothered her about his question and was trying to diffuse her tension. If so, that was a kindness she hadn't expected. Regardless, she answered him.

"Since Shikamaru passed his first chunin exam, Ino and Chouji needed a third and I needed a team. So I joined them," she replied simply.

"Was it the same as our exam?" he continued.

"Sort of," she smiled as memories of all that had transpired during that momentous second chunin exam flooded her thoughts. "The exam was once again held in Konoha to prove that we were stable and strong after the attack that followed the last exam, and the format was much the same. We had a written test, a survival test in the Forest of Death, and then the one on one bouts a month later. No preliminary matches though."

Sakura felt that this line of questioning was easy for Sasuke since he asked her yet another one as they turned into the market.

"Who else achieved chunin that exam?"

She turned to him and grinned brightly before answering.

"Everyone."

"Everyone?" Sasuke asked her, and she could detect a trace of well hidden disbelief in his voice.

She smiled even wider, if that was even possible, and headed for a clothing shop she knew would carry clothes Sasuke would approve of.

"Everyone," she confirmed. "My team, Team Kurenai, and Team Gai all made it through the survival test, as well as Temari, Kankurou, and their third – Gaara was already Kazekage at the time. Anyways, the twelve of us fought in the tournament and made history when we all were promoted to chunin upon its conclusion."

"Who won the tournament?" he probed after a moment's consideration.

"Neji did. The annoying idiot made it so that I had to forfeit – and in the finals of all things!" Sakura complained happily, remembering the match and how irritated she had been that Neji had made it so that the only smart choice she could make was forfeiting the match.

Sasuke stopped walking and she reflexively stopped and turned to face him.

"What is it?" she questioned him.

"You fought Neji in the finals of the chunin exam?" his voice sounded dumbfounded – or dumbfounded for Sasuke anyways.

"Yeah," she answered him, maybe just a little smugly, realizing the reason for his perceptible bafflement.

He didn't know how strong she actually was.

Though part of the reason she had fought Neji in the finals had a lot to do with the chance involved in drawing the initial matches. First she had fought Ino. Then Shino. And finally Neji. She was lucky that she hadn't come across any true long range fighters like Tenten, Kankuro, or Temari – the last two who had reached a draw when they had to fight each other, both knowing the other's techniques too well – or her chances of losing would have increased. She had had a difficult time fighting Shino as it was seeing as how she was a close range fighter for the most part and relied on chakra for many of her attacks nowadays.

She left her answer at that and headed into the clothing store which was right in front of them.

After another beat of silence, he followed her.

"Umm, I guess I'll just look around while I wait for you," Sakura told him. "Just find me when you're done."

Sasuke nodded and went off to the men's section to dig up some things to wear. Sakura meanwhile strode over to the women's section and let herself be immersed in her thoughts.

This was nice. She liked that spending time with Sasuke felt so natural now that she was more willing to trust in who he was. Still, she didn't really know what he was thinking. And he _had_ admitted to trying to kill her only the morning before. She was ignoring that information now in favour of the happiness her ignorance brought her, but that couldn't last.

As she browsed through the store, she caught sight of a pretty red sun dress that would be wholly impractical for her to buy. Though she was employed as a kunoichi of the village and made a decent income off the missions she undertook and the time she spent working at the hospital, she didn't have the luxury of buying superficial things. Her money went towards the necessities – she was supporting herself after all.

She must have been staring at the dress longer than she had thought, because the next thing she knew, Sasuke was tapping her on the shoulder.

"I'm done," he told her. He carried two bags that seemed to be filled with dark blues and blacks. "Are you ready to go?" he continued, glancing for a moment at the dress her eyes were locked on.

"Yeah," she murmured, wrenching her eyes away from the dress. "Let's go."

As they exited the building, Sakura felt more pairs of eyes on them than before, and heard the beginnings of whispered conversations. It seemed that while they had been inside the clothing store, rumours about Sasuke had spread like wildfire through the populace and now everyone wanted to see the returned Uchiha for themselves.

"Well, no matter what else is true, he's definitely even better looking than he was before he left."

Sakura's head immediately turned in the direction of the comment where her eyes caught sight of

a civilian woman only a few years older than her. She had been whispering to her friend so loudly that the sounds had reached Sakura's trained ears easily, without any strain to hear on her part. The woman was also pointing at Sasuke unashamedly.

"Nosy busybodies," Sakura muttered under her breath, shooting a glare at the woman that she usually only reserved for Naruto or Konohamaru when she caught either of them using a perverted ninjutsu.

As far as the numerous comments she was hearing went, that one fell into the category of "harmless" along with others like it. Mostly though, she heard mutters of traitor, and also wild speculations as to what Sasuke had been up to while he was gone – and she meant wild. Half of what was said made no sense at all.

Still, even if that young woman's comment technically didn't qualify as hurtful, it did qualify as annoying in Sakura's books. This woman, and the rest like her, knew nothing at all about Sasuke. They had never known anything about him. They hadn't thought about him everyday he was gone. They hadn't fought to become stronger with everything they had so that they could chase after him. They hadn't kept hope for years. They were superficial...

Much like she had been once upon a time ago before her childish crush had turned into the genuine thing.

She noticed Sasuke looking down at her out of the corner of his eye with that trademark smirk of his that she wasn't used to seeing after so much time. It made it feel like nothing had ever changed, and she had to consciously remind herself that even if she was willing to believe that he wasn't trying to break all ties with her and everyone else, things weren't the same anymore.

After another minute, Sakura led them into one of the smaller grocery stores in town to make their shopping trip infinitely easier than it would be if they wandered through the specialty stores and the produce stands. Even if all the staring wasn't really directed at her, it was starting to irritate her anyways.

They didn't speak as they moved through the grocery store, Sakura trailing after Sasuke with his bags of clothes while he filled the large basket he had picked up upon entering the store with whatever he wanted. When Sakura saw Sasuke grab a whole lot of tomatoes, she couldn't stop the grin from erupting on her face. His love of tomatoes was another familiar sight and something else that had remained the same about him. Her heart started pounding.

And it was still beating irregularly even as he paid the elderly man behind the counter – one of her former patients who said farewell to her by name – and they exited the store.

"Come on," she muttered, directing Sasuke as soon as possible to an alleyway between two buildings and away from the main street. It exited onto another road, considerably less busy than the last one had been, and Sakura sighed a little in relief. There wouldn't be so many heavy stares here.

As they walked back in the direction of Sasuke's apartment, Sakura's arms pleasantly empty – Sasuke had taken back his bags when he was done in the grocery store – Sakura debated resuming the conversation that had died between them while Sasuke was under the scrutiny of what seemed like the entire population of the village. She didn't have a chance though.

A little redheaded child suddenly came barrelling down the street, and she stopped moving, waiting for the inevitable.

Sasuke stopped as well and turned to see what had held Sakura up. Then he saw the little boy, no older than seven, grab Sakura around the middle and bury his head into her stomach.

He watched as she smiled and then knelt down when the young boy's grip loosened so that she could meet the child's eyes.

"Hey, Yahiko-kun. Why are you running around here by yourself? Where's your okaa-san?" Sakura asked, her voice laced with concern as she smoothed the boy's hair.

The little boy – Yahiko – grinned and gestured vaguely behind him.

"Kaa-san and me were leaving my oba-san's house when I saw you and came to say hi," he told her proudly.

"You're supposed to say kaa-san and _I_," Sakura corrected Yahiko gently, peering over his head, presumably looking for his mother.

Sasuke easily caught sight of the woman. She was rushing towards them, her hair as red as her son's. She had a scowl on her face, as if she were unhappy to be made to run, but the scowl quickly disappeared when her eyes landed on Sakura.

When the woman reached them, she placed her hands on her thighs and bent over, taking a few deep breaths before straightening and schooling her face into a stern mask.

"Yahiko, you can't run away like that," she scolded, her eyes fixed on her little son, who had turned around to take in his mother. Sasuke saw that while his attention had been on the woman, the child had grabbed hold of one of Sakura's hands firmly in one of his own.

"I'm sorry kaa-san," Yahiko said sadly, dropping his gaze to the floor. The satisfied smile on the boy's face told Sasuke that he was anything but.

"Yes, well, don't do it again. You could get lost like that, Yahiko," the woman said, softening immediately. Seemingly, she was a big sucker for her kid's little sad voice. Then the woman turned her attention to Sakura, who had straightened from her crouch, her right hand still firmly in the child's left.

"I'm sorry for the trouble, Sakura-san, but you left quite the impression on him at the hospital. He's always looking for your pink hair in the crowd now," the woman said with a huge smile as she affectionately ruffled her son's hair. "Sometimes he even tells me he wants to get sick again just so that he can visit you."

"It's because Sakura-hime's the best! She tells the best stories, and she's the nicest, and she's the prettiest, and she fixed me up just like _that_!" Yahiko proclaimed, letting go of Sakura's hand to snap his little fingers for emphasis.

Sakura laughed happily and smiled at Yahiko.

"It's no trouble, Chiba-san," Sakura began cordially, addressing the woman, presumably by her last name. Then she turned back to the boy. "And I'm flattered, Yahiko-kun, but you should never want to get sick," she told him seriously, though her eyes danced with her barely concealed amusement. "Getting sick is no fun. Then you can't play with your friends or run around outside."

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that," Yahiko said, frowning thoughtfully.

His mother laughed and ruffled his hair again, offering Sakura a nod of the head before speaking: "Well it's time to say goodbye to Sakura-san, Yahiko. I'm sure she's busy, and you have homework to do before tomorrow."

Yahiko looked sad that he had to leave so soon, but then he put on a smile and waved energetically.

"Bye, Sakura-hime!" he cheered, dutifully following after his mother who had already turned away.

"Don't forget to stay healthy," Sakura called after him, still looking on the verge of laughter.

When the two were out of earshot, Sakura let out a small giggle and then resumed walking in the direction of his new home. Sasuke could only follow her, thinking cursorily about how the mother must not have recognized who he was to be so calm in his presence, and then more so about the assortment of people who had addressed Sakura with such familiarity throughout the day: from the young girl Moegi, to the nurse Reika, to their fellow shinobi, to the old man at the grocery store, and now this little boy and his mother.

"Do you know everyone in the village?" he asked her.

She just continued smiling.

"I'm a medic, Sasuke-kun, and I've spent _a lot _of time working at the hospital doing everything from emergency surgeries to routine checkups. I've had the opportunity to meet a lot of the people who live here, civilian and shinobi," she explained.

As if to prove her point, a young man with shaggy brown hair, no older than eighteen, who was strolling down the street, heading in the opposite direction as them, smiled brightly when he laid eyes on Sakura. He didn't even seem to notice Sasuke at her side when he raised his hand in greeting.

"Hey, Sakura-chan! You haven't come around the greenhouses lately," he called out, slowing down and making a beeline in her direction.

Sakura didn't stop walking this time though. Instead, her real smile faltered a bit before she settled her lips into the weak grin of her's. She gave a brief acknowledging nod before her pace noticeably picked up.

"Mmhmm. Well I've been busy, Madoka," she began, her tone curt. "Actually, I'm busy right now. I'm doing important work for the Hokage, so if you'll excuse me." And with that she was walking past the man, not bothering to spare him a second glance.

"Who was that?" Sasuke couldn't help but ask when they had left the dumbstruck Madoka behind.

Sakura stopped the mumbling she had commenced under her breath.

"His family manages Konoha's greenhouses. I used to spend a lot of time there until just before Naruto came back learning all about the plants and their medicinal properties. Madoka was just...around a lot," she concluded, frowning.

Sasuke didn't know what to make of that, but it wasn't his business to pry into something she obviously didn't want to talk about. Not that it lessened his newfound curiosity. Every new mystery Sakura presented him with, he found himself needing to solve it. Kakashi and Naruto matched the images he had of them for the most part, but he still needed to resolve this Sakura now with the young teammate in his memory.

When they reached his home without further distractions, him and Sakura stood outside his door, Sakura's lips now pursed into a thin line, as if she were thinking hard about something. Her gaze darted towards Naruto's door down the hall, and then he knew what she was thinking.

"Sakura," he warned.

She smiled feebly and shook her head.

"I was just wondering if he would be there," she insisted quietly. "I'll leave him alone...until tomorrow anyways."

After a few beats of silence, since Sasuke had nothing to say in response to Sakura, she spoke again: "Well...I guess I'll get going. I should probably try and get some training in tonight since I won't have much free time for the next few days. Until tomorrow morning, I guess...or is someone else going to escort you to the hospital?"

Sasuke had almost forgotten about his community service, but he knew it was ridiculous to think that it would suddenly not matter because a man wholly unrelated to his present circumstances had died. Now that he remembered his service, he also remembered all the rest of the conditions of his living in Konoha, and he realized that unless he wanted to risk getting caught walking around the town by himself before the Hokage gave him the okay (and thus potentially pissing off said Hokage), he would be on lock down in his small apartment until someone came to get him in the morning. He was almost sure that particular rule of Tsunade's had been made to ensure that his return did not cause any problems in the village rather than to keep him restricted to his apartment (because she was sure that he wouldn't leave the village with his chakra sealed as it was – and she was right), so it probably wouldn't _really_ matter if he started walking around Konoha without one of his "guards", but even he could tell that now was not a time to bother Tsunade with anything.

And now that he realized he would be essentially confined there, the prospect of sitting in his apartment until tomorrow morning did not sound at all appealing. He supposed there were his old things to go through, but that wouldn't take too long. In fact, what he really wished to do was to go train. It didn't matter that he couldn't use chakra – that irritating fact had temporarily been dismissed from his mind until now, which was pretty surprising considering how much he had sought power in the past – he needed to at least keep his body in shape.

That would explain why he asked what he did.

"Do you want a sparring partner?"

She looked stunned. That was the only way he would be capable of describing the confused shock on her face.

And then she recovered.

"But you can't use chakra," she pointed out.

He held back the glare that wanted to break his normal countenance.

"Just basic taijutsu. I don't want to get out of shape," he told her.

She seemed to consider his answer before she gave her own reply.

"I guess that's fine," she said hesitantly. Then she motioned to his arms. "Why don't you put all that away first."

He didn't understand her hesitation. In the past, Sakura would have loved to spend time training with him.


	6. The Middle

Authoress' Notes: And here's another one. I'm sorry to report that it is not a particularly eventful chapter, but nor is it a "filler". We learn a little about Sakura (I have this whole story in my head about what happened with her over the two and a half year time skip) and we see more of both Sakura and Sasuke's thought processes. Next chapter, provided I don't scrap it in editing, there might be a little something – maybe more exciting is the right way to say it? – for you though. Bear with me. We can't see a deep relationship come about too fast now, can we?

And as for the action, well consider the time frame of the manga: Naruto had sage training for a while and everything in Konoha was pretty normal until the attack by Pain. Each of the chapters I've posted so far has covered a fairly brief time frame. I mean, the events in Chapters 4, 5, and now 6 all take place on the same day, so you can't expect monumental occurrences to happen in every single one unless I pick up the pace – which I may in time. Right now, I have one more prewritten chapter and then I have to start writing again. I'll take your words and opinions to heart in crafting the new chapters, so please review.

* * *

**Chapter 6 - The Middle**

_Hey, don't write yourself off yet._

_It's only in your head you feel left out or looked down on._

_Just do your best, do everything you can._

_And don't you worry what the bitter hearts are gonna say._

_It just takes some time, little girl you're in the middle of the ride,_

_Everything (everything) will be just fine, everything (everything) will be alright (alright)._

_- The Middle, Jimmy Eat World_

* * *

As they walked together to the training grounds, Sakura was internally debating the intelligence of this idea.

She was going to spar with Sasuke.

And she couldn't help but be nervous as hell about it. Her heart was already pounding out a ferocious beat in her chest. Sakura couldn't remember ever facing off against Sasuke in her childhood – it had always been him and Naruto.

One of the things that made her sure of her decision though was the fact that she might be able to show off some of her new skills – and she found herself needing to show him that she was _not _weak. She wasn't one to be watching anyone's back anymore. She was strong and capable, and the days of writing herself off were long over.

That was one reason she was so willing to fight him. But it didn't hurt that she might actually have a chance at beating him.

True, she wouldn't be using her chakra powered strength; it wouldn't be fair to Sasuke if this was to be a strict taijutsu spar since he had no real chakra of his own to speak of. Still, it wasn't her fault that her hits tended to pack a punch, even without chakra. Her raw physical strength had increased something fierce under her teacher's tutelage and – frankly – insane training. She would never have the same ludicrous natural strength Tsunade did, but she wouldn't be reduced to a weakling if her chakra level was low.

And though it was true that she didn't have Sasuke's speed, he didn't have the sharingan to help him predict her moves, or the chakra to boost his (already-better-than-her's) speed to a completely unmatchable level. Her taijutsu technique would also probably be about on par with his given the extensive training she had put in with Tsunade, not to mention some time with Lee and Gai, and anyone else Tsunade could trick or bully into fighting her. She was no pushover anymore. She had fought jounin in the past in straight taijutsu matches and won.

She could handle one Uchiha Sasuke.

Right?

Out of nostalgia, she took him to the third training ground where they had first acted as a real team during Kakashi's bell test – or maybe it was better to say _after_ the bell test – when the two of them had both shared their food with Naruto...who had been tied to a stump.

She tried to stop it, but it was impossible. A small giggle erupted from her lips.

Sasuke looked at her with both confusion and annoyance present in his features. She knew it was his way of asking "What?" without opening his mouth.

"I was just remembering the first time we were all here together. Kakashi tied Naruto to that stump over there," she explained as she pointed out the upright log. "Just imagine if he were to try something like that nowadays."

She knew she was grinning stupidly, but it wasn't like she could help it. Things were going too well right now with Sasuke for her to be sad. She still hadn't forgotten Naruto or Tsunade and their pain – because even she felt a small twinge in her heart for the loss of Jiraiya – or the fact that Sasuke had not come back on his own after killing Orochimaru, had formed another team, and had obviously changed – though why was she seeing so much of the old Sasuke then?

All of that was too confusing for right now and had the potential to send her into a dark downwards spiral. She didn't need that. She had to stay strong right now for her teammate and surrogate brother, and her teacher and surrogate mother. So she shoved all that into the forgotten recesses of her mind and focussed on all the good things – like maybe kicking Sasuke's ass...or at least bruising it somewhat.

"So? Are you ready to go?" she asked him with some newfound confidence when they had settled on the field, maybe twenty feet apart.

"Hn," he answered her, and she took the grunt for a yes.

And then she moved.

* * *

He had watched as Sakura hadn't waited for him to make the first move and had come right at him, her fist drawn back as if to punch him square in the jaw. He had dodged her fist easily enough, with a smirk on his face, but he hadn't been expecting for her leg to immediately and flawlessly follow her arm, and for her foot to kick him squarely in the chest. He had gone reeling backwards...much more than a few feet.

Now Sasuke stood, watching her as she brought her extended leg down and ducked into a defensive stance, her fists raised to protect her body, her expression smug as if she knew that the kick had hurt him...which it hadn't. Much anyways.

"Your turn," she called out, and he could have sworn that she now had a nearly teasing lilt in her voice.

Still, he wasn't going to lose to Sakura of all people, so he sped towards her, using his superior speed to duck past her leg, that came out in a defensive sweep, and get behind her. Before she could spin around, he aimed a kick at her kidney. But she seemed to expect the move, as she twisted out of the way of his foot and managed to bring her elbow down on his knee at the same time.

He quickly retracted the limb and watched as she turned to face him, her grin huge. They were only a few feet apart, within easy distance from each other. Either one could attack, but neither moved – at first.

"You're underestimating me," Sakura pointed out before she launched herself across the short distance, directing a punch at his face.

Sasuke blocked her fist with one arm while he kicked at her with his right foot. She didn't dodge fast enough this time, and caught the blow on her other arm as it came up to defend her chest, where the kick would have landed otherwise.

She sprung away from him and examined her arm briefly before grinning again and literally jumping back into battle, a flying kick aimed at his head.

* * *

It was a half hour later when she finally asked him if he had had enough.

"Hn," he answered, and she smiled in spite of the fact that she was sweaty, panting hard, that her hair was a mess, and that she was covered in light bruises that would normally have healed on their own if she hadn't been trying to hold her chakra back.

Sakura was satisfied.

Because even though she hadn't won, neither had Sasuke.

Sasuke stood a little ways away from her in a state just as bad as her's. He wasn't panting nearly as hard, but she could see the sweat on his brow, his hair was just as dishevelled as her's, and his bruises, though fewer in number, were slightly deeper than her own.

"Well, that was fun," she commented as she placed a glowing hand over a large bruise on her arm painful enough that it actually bothered her.

She was so absorbed by her injury that she didn't notice that Sasuke's eyes were locked on her healing hand. As soon as she finished, they flickered away immediately before she could look up and catch him staring.

"Now it's your turn," she told him as she walked across the field to where he had taken a seat on the ground. It was a reflex. She always healed her opponents after a bout if she had the strength. So, she settled down cross-legged next to him and asked for his right arm which he refused to give to her. She sighed in frustration and grabbed the limb anyways – something she wouldn't have dared to do only earlier that day.

"You can act all tough," she started as she began sending her healing chakra into one of the deeper bruises she had given him that was bound to hurt – if not now, then tomorrow for sure, "but I know how hard I can hit and I know where I can do the most damage to a person – I'm a medic, remember? So just stop acting all proud and let me fix it, alright? You didn't see me trying to pretend I wasn't hurt."

She held back her sudden urge to tell him to stop being such a baby.

Still, he didn't pull his arm away and let her fix the bruise. And when she asked for him to extend his left leg so she could get to a similar deep tissue injury she had dealt his thigh, he actually listened.

The worst of their bruises healed, she pulled away from Sasuke and lay down on her back, a little tired, but otherwise fine. And dammit this all felt so good.

Sasuke meanwhile was busy reevaluating Sakura. He should have figured out by now that she wasn't weak anymore, but still she had surprised him. Sure, she had healed his injuries after his fight with Itachi, and yes, he had watched her shatter the earth, and of course he had seen that she worked in the hospital and was very trusted and respected there, but somehow he hadn't been able to equate that to a Sakura who could actually fight him.

Now that he had seen such a Sakura though, he actually found himself impressed that her taijutsu had improved so much and that in a straight up spar with no tricks, no ninjutsu, and no genjutsu, they were pretty evenly matched. He had the faster speed, but reluctantly he had to admit that somehow she had the greater strength...as proven by his numerous bruises. Her's seemed to be fading to nearly nothing before his eyes.

He couldn't help but smirk a little as he considered the girl lying down on the ground next to him. He was finally starting to get a feel for Sakura as she was now. She had changed from the young girl in his memory, but it seemed like the greatest changes had been in her fighting abilities and her confidence – and those were actually changes that he approved of.

Sasuke listened as her breathing evened out and she relaxed. It was a sound as comforting as Naruto's constant blathering. Frankly, this felt so damn easy and right after years of just going through the motions and focussing on his first goal in life. It was just like old times after training with team seven, though two of their members were currently missing.

"I guess I should bring you back home now," Sakura mumbled, breaking the silence that had descended upon them.

Well, it was almost like old times. In the past Sakura would have been begging him to go out on a date with her at this point.

"Or," she suddenly began speaking again, "maybe I could make dinner for you at my place first. I'm guessing you didn't eat breakfast since there would have been no food in your apartment, and I know that I didn't stop for lunch today so you wouldn't have had the opportunity to eat then either – unless Neji or Kakashi-sensei brought you any sort of food in interrogation, which I sincerely doubt. And I know you bought food this afternoon, but none of it looked like anything you could make a proper dinner out of, so I just thought that the least I could do was feed you. Or, you know, we could just stop somewhere on the walk back to your place. Or we could do neither and you could just forget I asked. Or–"

By the end of her little speech, Sakura was babbling, but surprisingly, he didn't care. Nor did he care that it sounded like she was asking him out. He was actually finding himself glad to have an excuse to spend more time with her instead of returning to his empty apartment. Maybe in the process he would ease her overheard worries about his intentions some more.

"Sakura," he interrupted her. Then: "Whatever. Lead the way."

She looked confused for a minute before a huge smile broke across her face.

"Of course," she answered, hopping to her feet and automatically extending her hand down to him so that she could help pull him to his feet as well.

He surprised both of them when he took it and let her yank him up to a standing position.

* * *

The walk to her place was spent in silence, but Sakura didn't mind. She was too busy trying to figure out what had come over her. Why had she asked Sasuke to come eat with her instead of just walking him home? Well she _knew_ why. She had been lying there, catching her breath when she had felt the first pangs of hunger. Only then had she realized that she hadn't eaten all day, and then, of course, she had realized that Sasuke also probably hadn't eaten all day. After that, the question had just sort of...slipped out.

As soon as she had realized what she had said she had tried to do damage control. She had gotten too comfortable with their situation, too relaxed with him in too short a time. But then Sasuke had shocked her when he had actually accepted her proposal, and she couldn't help but feel even better about how things stood.

He had barely been back in Konoha a day and already things felt so perfect – well, no. Things would be perfect if he returned her feelings...but if they could just be friends, she would be more than okay. It was a testament to how real and all consuming her love for Uchiha Sasuke actually was. It didn't really matter if he felt the same way. As long as he was safe, happy, and at the very least her teammate, with no intentions of running away from them again, she could be happy. All because she well and truly loved him and wanted the best for him. It was a simple concept – easy to understand.

And yet, not everyone understood her feelings.

Her own mother had never understood.

At first she had been as proud as any civilian would be that her daughter had started training under the Hokage herself, but soon she had started to question why Sakura had suddenly started to spend so many more hours training than she ever had before. When her mother had confronted her angrily, saying that she never helped out around the house anymore, Sakura had tried to explain to her mother about her desire to become stronger and her promise with Naruto. Her mother had actually scoffed at her and had told her to forget the Uchiha traitor and move on.

Sakura hadn't spoken to her mother about Sasuke ever again after that.

When her apartment building came into sight, she led Sasuke up the stairs until they reached the fifth floor. It was at this point that she finally realized she had left the bag she had brought over to Naruto's house last night in her office at the hospital. That was okay though. She kept her keys in her weapons pouch when she was in the village, since that was one thing she was always sure to be wearing, and she had extra toiletries for home use – a little bit more extravagant and less durable than those she took on missions with her.

When she unlocked the door to her apartment, she motioned for Sasuke to go in before her, and he crossed the threshold before stopping a few feet into her home. As she also stepped inside, closing the door behind her, she wondered what could be holding him up. She was surprised when she heard Sasuke's sudden question.

"Did you move out of your parents' home already?" he asked her. "You didn't live here before."

The question gnawed on an old ache, but she shoved the wave of pain that threatened back.

"Something like that," she answered him simply.

"And they let you?"

That question didn't surprise her. Convention in the village was that an individual wouldn't move out of their parents' home until they turned eighteen – and even then, that was only if they had a proper job and could support themselves. With the old clans, a person often stayed with their parents even longer: until they were married and ready to start a family of their own.

She decided to answer him honestly – a testament to her newfound willingness to have faith in him. It wasn't like it was a secret anyways. All of her friends and important people knew why she lived alone at the young age of sixteen...as did practically the rest of the village.

Gossip spread quickly in Konoha after all.

"Not exactly," she began, and she noticed that with that cryptic response she had his attention. As she removed her shoes and passed Sasuke, motioning for him to follow her into her small kitchen where a little table with four chairs propped around it sat, she resumed her tale, steeling herself against the emotions that it would undoubtedly bring forth.

"They left the village when I was fourteen. Right before my second chunin exam. I think you know that they were...are civilians. They had lived here their whole lives. They thought that living in a ninja village was safe. When I wanted to become a kunoichi, they indulged me, encouraged me even. They didn't really understand what a kunoichi actually had to do. All they knew were the romanticised stories and the pretty little missions they saw genin doing around the village.

"They lived through the Third Shinobi World War, but it never came as far as Konoha's doorstep**,**" she continued, even as she went to her fridge and pulled out all the ingredients she would need to make okonomiyaki, noting that Sasuke was sitting quietly at her kitchen table...listening. "They never saw the true damage of war. They never knew exactly what it meant to be a shinobi of Konoha. They never understood that it would mean risking my life for the sake of the village. If they had, they probably would never have let me become a kunoichi in the first place."

She paused in her story for a moment while she moved to the kitchen sink and washed her hands. That done, she retrieved a cutting board from one of the overhead cupboards and a knife from one of her drawers. Then she grabbed a head of cabbage and started chopping, taking up her narrative. It was easier to tell the story while she was half distracted from it.

"When Oto and Suna attacked during our first chunin exam, my parents were at home, so they weren't affected by the genjutsu that fell over the crowd at the stadium. They heard the alarm, they witnessed shinobi fighting for their lives in the streets before they made it to the safe houses, and they saw what being a kunoichi could mean...they saw the dangers of living in a ninja village. It didn't help that I returned home that day bruised, battered, and exhausted, with some difficulty breathing. That's what started the change in their mindset," she continued.

"Then I started training with Tsunade-shishou. It wasn't easy. She'd come at me with her full strength when we sparred, often putting me in life threatening situations, and she would train me in medical jutsu until I barely had the energy to move. As we got closer to the chunin exam, I'd break bones during training, and she would refuse to heal them, insisting that I do it myself, even if it had to wait until the next day before I had the energy to deal with it. It was rough and I worked harder than I ever had before.

"At first, my parents were proud. They could go brag to their friends and acquaintances that their daughter was training under the Godaime, the legendary sannin Tsunade. But their illusions about what a shinobi was and the amount of safety that the village provided had been shattered. My parents started getting increasingly upset with how much time I spent training and the way I would come home, injured and too tired to help out. It didn't help that we then had to deal with another small attack orchestrated by a band of rogue ninja who thought Konoha would be easy pickings. They were dealt with easily, but my parents heard about it and they were scared that the village seemed like a target.

"One night, maybe a month before the exam, I came home with a broken arm that I hadn't had the chakra to heal," Sakura kept going, glancing at Sasuke to see if he was still paying attention. He was watching her, so she proceeded, all while she mixed the cabbage in with the batter she had finished and then dug around for the pans she needed, placing them on the stove. "My parents were furious when they saw me that night. I tried to calm them down and explain that it was a part of my training, but they had had enough of watching their daughter play ninja in a village they no longer thought was safe.

"They told me that they had talked it over, and that we were moving within the week to a small civilian village in Fire Country. I told them that I couldn't just stop being a kunoichi nor could I abandon my village. They just said that living around ninja was proving to be too dangerous and that they wouldn't let me risk my life as a kunoichi. I was told to pack my things and that I would thank them in time.

"The next day, I told Tsunade-shishou what had happened," she told him, turning on the burner beneath one of the pans. "And I told her that I didn't want to move, that I didn't want to stop being a kunoichi of Konoha. She went and tried to speak with my parents, reassure them, but with the chunin exam fast approaching and foreign shinobi set to arrive in town soon, they were terrified of another attack. They were moving. I still refused, and that was when they reminded me that I had no choice.

"Well, Tsunade-shishou said I did. She said she would help me settle into an apartment of my own if that's what I wanted. So I told my parents that I would stay here and that I'd come visit them all the time... And they begged and pleaded with me to reconsider, but I couldn't leave. When I told them that, they got angry and they said they wouldn't help me with this stupid scheme of mine and that if I was so intent on staying and making my own decisions, I could support myself. They said they'd see me again when I was thinking straight and was ready to move back in with them. And just like that, they sold our home and left me with nothing more than an address where I could find them.

"I haven't seen or heard from them since," she said as she finished chopping up some vegetables and then tossed them, along with some pre-cooked pork, into the now heated pan. "I've tried visiting, but they refuse to open the door."

The sizzling of the food in the pan was the only noise for a while and Sasuke used it as a focal point while he tried to gather together all the thoughts racing through his head and make sense of Sakura's story. Sakura though, was apparently not done.

"It's my own fault. I alienated my own parents, made them feel betrayed. Since then, I've convinced myself that one day they'll get over it, and I _know_ they only act like that because they're worried about me...they're my mom and dad...my family. But so are Ino, Naruto, you, Sai, Kakashi-sensei, Tsunade-shishou, Shizune-san, Yamato-sensei and everyone else. I can't just leave Konoha...I can't just stop being a kunoichi and a medic...I can't just forget about everything and everyone and live the easy, safe life my parents want for me. I love them so much, but they're asking me to do the impossible. I can't be the person they want me to be – I can only be myself.

"I'm lucky...they're still alive, they're safe, and they're healthy, but...but I just wish they could understand why I need to do this so I wouldn't have to lose them to keep the rest of my family," she said while she watched the toppings for the okonomiyaki cook. Her voice, which had retained her normal tone all throughout the story finally betrayed a hint of the sadness she felt as she was momentarily unable to keep out.

It was in that instant that everything came together in Sasuke's mind and he realized that this wasn't just a childlike Sakura complaining about her parents yelling at her anymore. She had real familial issues, all brought on by the fact that she knew exactly what she wanted to do with her life and that she was loyal to her friends and her home – something her parents could never fully understand having been raised as civilians. She obviously missed them and wanted to see them and reconcile with them, but at the same time, she couldn't turn her back on the lifestyle she had chosen and all the rest of her important people.

Her devotion was admirable, and surprisingly, Sasuke felt the stirring of a growing respect within him. And even as he acknowledged her dedication, he also recognized the pain she must be feeling for the choice she had made.

She turned the burner on beneath the second pan on the stove and poured the batter she had made into it, and then almost immediately turned her attention back to the other pan where she gave the sizzling vegetables and meat a stir.

He didn't say anything. What could he say? That everything would be okay? Never would he be able to speak those comforting words. He was not like Naruto – he did not have the same optimistic blind faith that his self-proclaimed best friend possessed.

Sakura didn't even seem to notice his silence though. She was too busy working at the stove, now scooping the contents of one pan onto a large plate before pouring more of the batter into its now empty depths. He just continued to study her.

She was the same, but she had changed. Did that make sense? If Naruto had grown up, then maybe that's all she had done as well. Her story now had helped him confirm that she was very much still Sakura, but just not a child anymore – a young girl who barely had the qualifications to be a kunoichi and took everything for granted. In fact, only after this brief amount of time, he found himself very much appreciating Sakura as she was now.

It was almost fifteen minutes later that Sakura placed a plate with the okonomiyaki in front of him, already cut into manageable pieces, before placing a bottle of okonomiyaki sauce on the table, along with some other standard toppings. Then she brought two glasses of water to the table before settling down in the seat across from his. She jumped up as abruptly as she had sat down.

"I almost forgot," she muttered – her first words since she had finished telling her tale –, heading back to the counter by the stove and grabbing the bowl that was sitting there. She placed it down on the table in front of him, and then took her seat again.

"Help yourself to whatever else you want," she said before grabbing the sauce and pouring some of it over her own meal.

Sasuke inspected the cut up okonomiyaki before him and noted that Sakura had included a lot of fried tomatoes in his. Then he looked at the bowl she had placed before him. In it sat slices of fresh tomato. He couldn't stop the smirk from coming to his lips. He hadn't even noticed her cutting it up.

* * *

They hadn't talked much while they ate, and Sakura had watched as Sasuke had polished off the okonomiyaki and then his bowl of tomatoes. After the meal, she had cleaned up the table and had stacked the dishes in the sink, resolving to do them later. Then she had put a kettle of water on the stove to boil, and had dug out some tea leaves, placing them into two tea cups to await the boiling water. She had also dug a bowl of cherries out of her fridge and had started snacking on them.

"I guess we should head back to your place soon," she said, leaning back against the counter near the stove and glancing at the clock on her wall while popping another cherry into her mouth. She had gotten control of the sadness that had broken through with the retelling of her story almost as soon as she had started eating. She had long ago learned that dwelling on it was not healthy and that she couldn't let herself wallow in a combination of self-pity and guilt.

Sasuke was still sitting at her kitchen table, his elbows propped up on the smooth table top and his hands clasped together, resting underneath his chin. He said nothing in response to her statement though. In fact, it didn't even look like he had heard her.

The tea kettle whistled and Sakura turned off the heat before grabbing the plastic handle and pouring the steaming water into both cups. She placed the kettle back on the stove and then carried the cups to her kitchen table, placing one in front of Sasuke before resuming her seat.

She wondered what he was thinking about.

As if on cue, Sasuke's mouth opened and he asked her a question: "How close are you and Naruto?"

She stilled, completely shocked for what must have been the umpteenth time that day. She noted Sasuke watching her with his dark, unreadable eyes as she blew on the liquid in her teacup, all the while wishing that it was sufficiently cool so that she could drink from it and give herself a real reason for not answering his question right away.

After a minute she managed to craft a response to the curious question: "Naruto has always been there for me, but it really took until he came back for me to see that. He's loud, hyperactive, unpredictable, and can act like a child sometimes but...he's become someone I can count on. No. He was always someone I could count on...I just didn't see it before. He's...he's like the big, overprotective brother I never had."

She didn't know if that exactly answered his question, but it was the only answer she had. She couldn't define her relationship with Naruto. They weren't just teammates. No. But they weren't just friends either. They were more than that. They were family, bonded by their memories and their promise. And yes, Naruto had been away for two and a half years, but when he had returned they had just...fit together. There was no need to think. They were just...them.

She looked at Sasuke over the teacup she held to her lips, uncaring that the water was still scalding – she could always heal a burnt tongue – and noted that he seemed to look almost satisfied with her response.

"What about Sai?" he asked her then.

Sakura just about choked. This line of questioning was incomprehensible coming from Sasuke's mouth. But he was looking at her almost expectantly, so she managed to put together another reply.

"Sai is...Sai," she finally settled on the cliche phrase. There really was no other way to say it. "He was sort of...handed to us when we needed a fourth for _that_ mission." She didn't need to elaborate any further because she knew Sasuke would understand. "He's been trying to learn about the bonds of friendship ever since. We decided to keep him. He's part of the team now."

"He calls you _Ugly_," Sasuke pointed out, his face a blank canvas, his voice purely neutral.

Sakura couldn't help the blush that came to her cheeks.

"Yeah... I'm used to it. He doesn't really mean it in a _bad_ way... I really don't understand what goes on inside that head of his sometimes," she mumbled taking a deep gulp of the hot tea.

Sasuke didn't say anything else and she decided to let silence reign.

Sasuke didn't care though. He used the quiet time to ponder the answers she had given him. He wasn't even too sure what had prompted his questions in the first place. He had been sitting there, watching her clean up around the kitchen and put on the water for tea when he started thinking about what he had overheard last night and had started wondering once again about the relationship between the pink-haired young woman before him and Naruto. All too soon, the question had slipped from his lips, his curiosity needing abating. The question about Sai had followed almost naturally.

Sai was the one he knew next to nothing about. The pale, dark-haired boy was just there. Present, but unknown to Sasuke. So he asked about him and got her vague response. It almost sounded like she herself wasn't too sure about Sai, but was more than willing to accept him into her life. She even let him call her _Ugly_. Somehow, Sasuke was sure that if anyone else called her that, she wouldn't have the same apparent apathy for the nickname.

He finished his tea, watching as Sakura also took her last sip, grabbing both her cup and his own and promptly bringing them to the kitchen sink. Then she turned around, leaning back on the counter, and gave him a smile.

"I guess it's time to go," she muttered, pushing off of the counter behind her and heading out of the kitchen.

He followed her. Less reluctant to return home now that he had killed a decent portion of the evening.

After they left her house, the two walked down the nearly empty residential streets in a comfortable silence, and Sasuke just knew that Sakura was enjoying the lack of whispering and pointing that they had endured that afternoon. He was as well. It hadn't really bothered him at any emotional level, but he had found the constant buzz of hushed conversations and the flailing appendages that he would catch sight of with his trained eyes annoying.

When they reached his apartment, Sakura again said her goodbyes and again asked about his escort to the hospital in the morning.

He told her that he would expect her around the same time and she grinned and reminded him to eat breakfast now that he had food in his house.

"And if you're really stuck here and need something or whatever, I'm sure it's totally permissible to go as far as next door on your own and get your neighbour," she concluded teasingly.

He nodded and entered his apartment, actually muttering a goodbye that Sakura was likely to have heard before the door closed.


	7. Colours

Authoress' Notes: I didn't forget about this. I just ran out of time to work on it. I really am so, so sorry it took so long. I had planned to get this chapter out during the summer, but I just never had a chance to finish it. I mean, once school ended last April, I spent the rest of the Summer studying for my MCATs and working. Then school started and now I'm busy as ever with pre-med. It's thanks to all of you though that this is coming out at all. The reviews and messages I get telling me to continue this story don't let me ever forget it, even when I'm studying Microbiology, Immunology, and The History and Philosophy of Science – fun times, I can assure you. I will try to work on this story whenever I can.

* * *

**Chapter 7 - Colours**

_I know you feel alone, yeah, and no one else can figure you out._

_But don't you ever turn away from the ones that help you down?_

_Well they'd love to save you. Don't you know they love to see you smile?_

_But these colours that you've shined are surely not your style._

_But you should know these colours that you're shining are_

_Surely not the best colours that you shine,_

_Surely not the best colours that you shine._

_- Colours, Crossfade_

* * *

Sasuke lay on the bed in his new apartment, the boxes of things from his old place now mostly unpacked. He was actually a little shocked by how his possessions were still in such good condition – in fact, he was amazed that they hadn't just been tossed out when he had left . But he was sort of glad that for whatever reason they hadn't been – it made his life just that much easier.

Now, dishes were hidden in the few cupboards in the kitchen area. The few family mementos he had taken from the Uchiha complex as a child were hidden away in the closet. His old towels and sheets – freshly laundered, he noted – were packed away in the dresser along with his new clothes. Everything had its place.

And the old picture of team seven, which had been buried deep in one of the boxes, had somehow found its way onto the small night stand next to the bed...and now he found himself just lying on that same bed, staring at it.

In the picture, Kakashi wore a grin, so obvious even though it was concealed behind his mask, and both his hands were ruffled in his two male students' hair. Sasuke himself wore a scowl as he glared at the offensive camera. Naruto was also scowling, but his glare was directed at Sasuke and not at the poor cameraman. And in the middle of it all was Sakura, standing before Kakashi, positively dwarfed by the older ninja. Her hair was long in the picture, her smile was bright, and her hands were fisted in obvious delight. In that one moment, Sakura, with her happy attitude, resembled their teacher more than either young man did.

He turned away from the picture and looked at the ceiling.

He had already taken the Uchiha crest off of some of the old shirts he had found among his possessions and sewn it on to the new clothing he had purchased. It wasn't the finest job, but it was more than satisfactory. Now, he was making a list in his head of everything else he would need to purchase soon.

That was when he heard the door of the apartment next to his open.

He had heard Naruto leave a little earlier that evening, so obviously the blond was finally returning to his apartment. He wondered where Naruto could have gone and what he might have done, but he didn't make any move to go next door and find out. What would that accomplish anyways? He wasn't like the blond, able to easily offer comfort to anyone he crossed paths with.

In the back of his mind, a traitorous voice argued that he could at least listen to Naruto...hadn't that been what he had done for Sakura only earlier that afternoon? He ignored it and tried to will himself to fall asleep. It was already really late and Sakura would be by to pick him at quarter to nine, and he had a feeling that he wouldn't get off with such an easy day's work at the hospital again.

Eventually, his eyes fell closed, and he drifted into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Just because Sasuke's chakra was sealed off, that didn't mean that he couldn't do something so basic as sense the chakra of another person in the area. That didn't require active use of his own chakra – and it required nothing more than trained senses when that person was standing right outside his front door. So, when Sakura arrived at quarter to nine, he knew that she was there, and he once again opened the door before she could knock with the raised fist she held in the air. Her other arm was dangling at her side, a bag that looked to be filled with books weighing it down.

"Oh..." she stumbled over her words for a second as the door swung open. Then she smiled and relaxed her tensed shoulders. "Good morning, Sasuke-kun."

He didn't say anything, but he nodded his head in recognition. Sakura seemed to deem this acceptable as she then turned on her heel and immediately headed for the stairs to the ground floor, the bag she held in her left hand swinging with every step she took. He shut and locked his door, and was right behind her in moments. When they reached the street, he took up a position next to her.

When she didn't start talking right away, he was a little surprised. After everything that had happened yesterday, he had thought that she was back to normal. A glance at her face revealed that her brow was furrowed in concentration and that her eyes were a little glazed over as if she were thinking about something far distanced from their walk. He decided to let it go and not to bother her. This quiet was comfortable and not nearly as strange as that of yesterday morning's walk. It didn't really matter though that he hadn't broken the silence, because after a minute, Sakura herself broke it.

"Sasuke-kun?"

He looked at her again, and their eyes locked. Her face still revealed a girl deep in concentration, but her eyes were no longer glassy and unfocussed. If anything, they betrayed a wavering uncertainty.

"Hn," he responded to her. She understood that it meant that he was listening though.

"I'm going to go see Juugo again today and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me," she explained to him.

He held back his question of "Why?" and just looked at her expectantly. She didn't disappoint.

"It's just that he's locked up all by himself. I know that he agreed to it and that given the circumstances it's sort of necessary, but I'm sure that he doesn't want to be all alone all the time. And he knows you and thinks highly of you – I'm sure he'd be happy to see you," she told him, wringing her hands together.

"I thought you were supposed to focus on the hospital," he told her. Hadn't Tsunade asked it of her less than twenty-four hours ago? And hadn't she agreed? Wasn't that the reason Sakura had had for training the night before?

"I'm just going to pop by on my lunch break," she answered him, "and I have a pager if they need me while I'm out. And anyways, focussing my attention on the hospital just means that it'll be my responsibility to keep on top of all the work Tsunade and Shizune have taken care of ever since they've been managing it. I'll be doing paperwork, organizing everyone's shifts, doing consults for treatments with any medic who requires one, and I'll be the primary medic on call if any obscure or extreme cases check in. I had wanted to spend all my time working on curing Juugo, but the little bits I can squeeze in between my other responsibilities will have to suffice for now until everything normalizes around here."

"They have you do all that?" Sasuke asked, maybe just a little dumbfounded, after Sakura's explanation. From her description of the work she would be obligated to do, it sounded like she would be running the hospital.

"After my parents left and I became a chunin, I started to spend more and more time with Tsunade, and it just became natural that I would help her and Shizune with their work. I learned a lot about managing the hospital – things that no one else is presently trained in," Sakura explained pleasantly. "And running the village," she tacked on as an afterthought, a distracted smile coming to her lips, "Naruto will be in for a pleasant surprise when he becomes Hokage and learns how much paperwork it requires."

Sasuke himself smirked at hearing that. It was only belatedly that he realized that Sakura had said _when_ Naruto became Hokage and not _if_...and that he hadn't even questioned the idea.

Sakura's smile eventually faltered and she turned her attention back to him.

"So?" she asked.

Sasuke said nothing, and Sakura started to fidget, clearly uncertain about her request. Eventually, he nodded. There was no harm in going to see Juugo. That voice in the back of his head seemed insistent on pointing out to him that this way, it would be possible for him to watch for the signs of a sudden change in Juugo's demeanor that Sakura may not notice in time to get clear of him before she was hurt.

His nod was rewarded with another one of Sakura's full smiles – a smile which remained in place for the remainder of their walk.

When they passed through the hospital's main entrance, Sakura offered him a goodbye, telling him that she would come grab him before she headed over to the prison in a few hours. His eyes followed her path towards the elevators before he reluctantly headed over to the front desk where the same nurse as yesterday, Reika, sat.

He didn't bother to say anything when he approached her. He didn't need to. Her eyes were already fixed on him. It seemed that without the shield of Sakura's presence, he could not escape her attention.

"Uchiha Sasuke, right?" she finally asked, her eyes still locked on him. Sasuke was surprised to see that they held no fear or contempt.

Still he said nothing in return, but it was not like the nurse needed his confirmation. She abruptly directed her attention to a pile of papers on her desk and shuffled through them, eventually extracting one and extending her hand for him to take it. He grabbed it, but the nurse didn't let go.

"Tsunade-sama left this for you and told me to remind you that you're not allowed to have any complaints," she told him, her voice strong and a little teasing, as she delivered the Hokage's message before releasing her grip on the sheet of paper.

He heard her, but the words quickly drifted away as his eyes roved over those written by the Hokage detailing his job for the day.

In that moment, he sort of hated the woman.

* * *

"No, your course of treatment is exactly right. It's definitely not something that should be healed in one session. The shock to the body would be too great."

"Thank-you for the consultation, Sakura-san. I just wanted to be sure I was doing what was best for the patient."

"You should trust your own judgement more, Seki-san," Sakura told the medic she had just consulted with sternly. "I know _I_ trust in you. I mean you've been here years longer than I have. You have experience on your side."

"Of course," the older man replied, taking her stern tone in stride with a smile.

Sakura couldn't help but smile as well.

"Pfft. You know what I think? I think that you didn't really need a consult and were just fishing for compliments," she accused teasingly.

The older medic just shook his head and laughed before turning and walking back into his patient's room.

Sakura's smile grew as well. She knew it was hard sometimes for those who had been medics years and years to consult with her, especially when she was often half their age. Hell, it had been hard for her to take charge when she had felt so inexperienced compared to them. But eventually, people had come to accept her great memory for the details and her aptitude with the techniques and as they had accepted her, she had accepted her role. Nowadays, a consult with someone like Seki, who was thirty-three years old and had been working as a medic since he was her age wasn't hard to handle. She just took it in stride.

Now, with Seki's patient's situation sorted out, she was done until the afternoon and could go take her lunch break. Which meant she could go grab Sasuke and save him from whatever task Tsunade had set him to. In spite of her mentor's saddened mood, Sakura knew that the woman could still torment others like no one else.

So, first she went up to her office and grabbed the books she had thought to bring for Juugo. Then she took the elevator to the main floor, where she approached the nurse's station. Reika still sat behind it, apparently not having been relieved for her lunch break yet, and Sakura was glad. Reika had been one of the first people she had met at the hospital, and one of the first people who had recognized her skill. Though Reika was already twenty-five, with a husband and a four year old daughter, Sakura considered her a very good friend and was always happy to see her.

"Hey, Reika! How's it going?" Sakura greeted the nurse with a huge smile.

Reika immediately looked up from the papers she had been consulting and brightened as well.

"Everything's going great – here and at home. So well, in fact, that my husband and I have been thinking of having a night out sometime this week. I was actually hoping that if you weren't too busy you might babysit for us again."

"What evening were you thinking of?" Sakura asked. Her evenings for the next few days were currently free, but they would only remain that way as long as she stayed on top of all of her work. The earlier in the week Reika and her husband wanted to go out, the more likely that Sakura would not be behind in any of her responsibilities.

"We were thinking of going out tomorrow night..." Reika suggested, letting the thought trail off.

"I'm free then, and I'd be glad to babysit Mika-chan for you," Sakura answered honestly. The date fit perfectly in her schedule and Reika had perhaps the cutest, most well-behaved four year old she had ever seen.

"Thanks a ton, Sakura," Reika replied, sounding just a little relieved to have her plans sorted out.

"Hey, it's no problem...hmm...but where did that suffix I heard yesterday morning go?" Sakura teased as Reika addressed her informally, like the friend she was.

"You know as well as I do that was only because Uchiha Sasuke was there. Keeping things professional and all that. Just now we were discussing personal business. That being said, Sakura-_sama_," Reika said, exaggerating the suffix dramatically, "did you need something? I don't usually see you skulking around the first floor during the day when there's work to do."

"Ah, yeah. I was wondering if you knew where I could find said Uchiha. He's supposed to be working somewhere in the hospital today," Sakura explained.

Reika smiled even brighter if that was at all possible.

"Uchiha Sasuke, huh? Tsunade-sama informed me of his situation. Now, if I remember correctly, today's assignment will find him in the basement."

"The basement?" Sakura confirmed.

"Mmhmm," Reika nodded, before letting out a trilling laugh.

"What's so funny?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, you'll see when you get there," Reika prompted, her eyes shining wickedly.

"Okay then," Sakura said hesitantly, before letting out a little apprehensive laugh of her own. "Thanks for the info, Reika-_san_."

"No problem, Sakura-_sama_."

They both laughed and Sakura turned to return to the elevator, but just as abruptly, she turned back to the desk. As she had been asking Reika her question, another one had kept coming to mind, and she found that she couldn't leave without it being satisfied.

"Reika. Can I ask you something? As a friend?" Sakura enquired, stepping closer to the desk and lowering her voice.

"Of course," Reika replied, lowering her voice automatically in response to Sakura's whispers.

"Why are you so...okay with the whole Sasuke thing? You didn't even flinch yesterday when you saw him, and even now you seem totally fine with it. I just...I don't understand. Anyone who recognizes him is either calling him a traitor, considering him with extreme caution, or just acting plain stupid. You don't fall into any of those categories. You seem to be treating him...well, just like you would treat anyone else. Not that that's a bad thing...it's just...I mean..."

"Sakura, it's okay. Don't worry about it. I get it," Reika interrupted her.

Sakura was a little stunned by that response, because she herself wasn't even sure why she was asking. It was just something that she had noticed, something that had struck a chord with her, something that had made her maybe just a little bit happy... Maybe because it made Sasuke seem like just another citizen of Konoha – a part of the village.

Reika wasn't finished speaking.

"I know the story of Uchiha Sasuke as well as anyone else from Konoha," she began, keeping her voice low so that they would not be overheard, "and no child should have to suffer through what he did. His whole family murdered...by his own brother...it's so tragic. And though his past doesn't excuse his behaviour, it undoubtedly contributes to it. Even so, the most important factor in my opinion of him is that I know that he has Tsunade-sama's approval, so why shouldn't he also have mine," Reika concluded.

After a moment's silence, Sakura spoke: "Thanks for that, Reika... I wish that more people could be like you."

"Well, maybe I can help bring your wish to life," Reika suggested.

A pleasantly surprised Sakura was all ears.

* * *

A few minutes later, Sakura was pressing the down button outside the elevator. Soon, the machine arrived, and once inside, she pressed the button for the basement level. Seconds later, the doors were opening, and she was walking out into a dimly lit hallway.

The hospital's basement was not its most aesthetic floor. Actually, that was putting it mildly. The basement was ugly, and poorly lit with fluorescent bulbs since no natural light could reach its depths. Plus, it was always cold, despite the supposed heating system. Sakura shivered.

What on earth could Sasuke be doing down here? And what was so funny about the situation that it made Reika laugh?

The basement was used exclusively for storage of the hospital's records and supplies, and for laundry. There were fridges where vaccines were stored when they were preparing to vaccinate the populace for a bug. The hospital's main blood bank was also located down here, and it was from there that they stocked the smaller fridges of blood on every floor as often as needed. There was a huge laundry room where all of the hospital's linens were washed. And she knew there were rooms and rooms of filing cabinets that held the records for their patients, as well as rooms stocked with extra supplies like bed sheets, hospital gowns, and tongue depressors... But really, what was Sasuke doing?

As she turned the corner, she learned exactly what Sasuke had been sent to the basement for.

And she giggled.

And then her giggle turned into full blown laughter. But it was not because of what Sasuke was doing. Rather, it was what he was wearing while doing it.

Sasuke was dressed in the orange coveralls that were the trademark of the hospital's custodial staff, and he didn't look the least bit happy about it. The uniform itself was enough to make Sakura burst into laughter – it really looked much too similar to Naruto's old outfit –, but the fact that he also had a mop in his hands, and a bucket of dirtied water at his feet was what prevented her laughter from subsiding.

Now Sakura knew what had so amused Reika – someone didn't even have to know the Uchiha well to understand that the colour of the uniform was pure punishment for him. Sasuke was not pouting or sulking like a normal person would, but his unhappiness was still evident in the set of his eyes and mouth. Sakura really had to congratulate her teacher – Tsunade was an evil mastermind.

When Sakura's laughter abated, she finally noticed that Sasuke had stopped working and was glaring at her in a way she could only describe as comical in the current situation.

"Do you want to change before we go?" she finally propositioned, trying to hold back yet another round of giggles. She couldn't believe she had let herself laugh so openly at Sasuke in the first place...but the situation was just so unexpected...and funny.

She lost all control though when Sasuke immediately stripped out of the orange coveralls to reveal his own clothes underneath.

Sasuke glared at her again but she took no heed.

"Come on," she said through her dying laughter as he dropped his coveralls over the bucket. He would be returning here later after all, but Sakura figured he'd be in no rush to get back.

* * *

Tsunade was evil.

That was the thought that had stayed with Sasuke all morning while he had cleaned the damn hospital basement wearing that ridiculous uniform. The letter Tsunade had left with the nurse had been very detailed about his work for that morning, down to the uniform he absolutely _had _to wear since he would be undertaking the work of a member of the custodial staff. In his opinion, that really made no sense – it was just another weird punishment, like living next door to Naruto. Still, just like living next to Naruto, Sasuke had to abide by the woman's crazy plans if he wanted to live in Konoha.

Even so, her order to don the stupid orange uniform would have been ignored if she had not reminded him in the letter that the hospital had cameras everywhere, even the basement, and that his sentence could be much worse if she found he wasn't complying to her every whim. And so that's how Uchiha Sasuke came to wear the orange coveralls that had apparently amused one Haruno Sakura to no end.

Sasuke watched her now, out of the corner of his eye, as they walked down the streets of Konoha on their way to the prison, which was located right next to the Konoha Intelligence Division for convenience – or so Sakura had told him as they had left the hospital. Sasuke himself had no information on the matter, having had nothing to do with the building before he had left Konoha.

As they walked through the relatively empty division of town where the Intelligence Division and prison were housed, Sakura was humming to herself, and smiling softly, swinging the bag of books she had carried with her to the hospital that morning. She looked so carefree, more like a civilian teenager on a stroll than a kunoichi or medic on business, though the hitai-ate she wore as a headband was clear proof otherwise.

"We're here."

Sakura's words interrupted his aimless thoughts, and it was only then that he noted the discreet sign on the one story building in front of them: Konoha Prison. They got closer to the building and Sakura stopped walking, Sasuke mimicking her actions. He then turned his head to face her so that she would know she had his attention.

"Most of the building is underground," Sakura explained. Then she pointed to a much taller building next to it. "That's the Konoha Intelligence Division building. It connects to the prison through an underground corridor."

After the little lesson, Sakura resumed walking into the prison, and as had become his usual routine, Sasuke followed her. The two of them entered a small room that was bare of any furniture, save for a long counter, behind which a heavy metal door was located. Sakura immediately approached the counter and pressed a discreet black button in the counter's centre. Moments later, the door swung open and a shinobi dressed in chunin gear stepped out into the small room, shutting the door behind him.

"Haruno Sakura," Sakura told him, pulling a letter from her weapons pouch and presenting the man with it. Sasuke assumed that it was written permission from Tsunade to visit Juugo. "I'm here to see the special prisoner," she continued.

"And what about him?" the chunin asked, motioning to Sasuke after he had finished reading the letter and had given it back to Sakura, apparently satisfied.

"I've cleared it with Tsunade-sama," Sakura said, her voice unwavering, "you can check with her if you'd like, though I doubt she'd appreciate the interruption."

As the chunin studied Sakura, trying to see if there was truth in her answer, Sasuke watched the chunin. When the chunin's eyes left Sakura, Sasuke knew that he had accepted Sakura's answer – most likely because he did not want to risk angering the Hokage.

"Follow me," the chunin finally declared, lifting a section of the counter up so that the two of them could get behind it. After that, he opened the door for them and they passed into a well-illuminated hallway off of which Sasuke could see a cafeteria and what were surely the closed entryways of offices.

After the chunin had closed the door behind them, he led them down the hallway to another heavy door. This time the shinobi performed hand seals before the door was eventually bathed in the glow of his chakra. When the chakra faded to nothing, the chunin put his hand to the metal entryway and Sasuke heard a mechanism click before the chunin removed his hand and used the handle to open the door.

"You know where you're going?" he asked Sakura, and she nodded. Seemingly satisfied by her answer, the chunin motioned for them to head down the illuminated staircase the door had revealed upon its opening.

Sakura went first, and Sasuke followed, not even sparing a glance backwards when the door swung shut behind them. The two of them merely continued to follow the winding staircase down until they reached the first landing, where another heavily built door stood fixed in the wall. This one however, Sakura opened with ease to reveal a dank, dimly lit hallway.

"These days, the prison really doesn't see much use," Sakura explained as they travelled through the cold, dark corridor past empty jail cells. "Since the Third Shinobi World War, only the first floor below ground has been used – it's the one connected to the Intelligence Division. For security purposes, the door we passed through to get in here, as well as the door into the Intelligence Division, can both only be opened from outside the cell block, and all the hallways down here are monitored by cameras and patrolling shinobi. One of them will be waiting to open up Juugo's cell for us."

They continued down the hallway, and eventually turned a bend, coming upon a jounin level shinobi. Sasuke could tell that neither Sakura nor the jounin were surprised. Neither was he. Sasuke had sensed the man's presence, and was sure that Sakura and the jounin had done the same.

"Ah, it's Pinky again. Here to see the big guy, right?" the jounin asked lightly.

"Yes. So, if you would please open the door and wait just down the hall like yesterday I would greatly appreciate it," Sakura replied politely, offering the older man a little bow. Her calm demeanor didn't fool Sasuke though – he had seen her eyebrow twitch when the man had called her Pinky. Apparently, that was one name she didn't like, at least coming from this person.

The jounin however, who had either not noticed her irritation or chosen to ignore it, nodded and turned to face the door he stood in front of. He extracted a ring of silver keys from a pouch at his side, rapidly selecting one and sticking it into the lock, and turning it deftly before extracting it.

"You'll know where to find me," the jounin stated before glancing once at Sasuke and then heading further down the hall where a chair was propped against the wall.

While the jounin had strolled down the hallway, Sakura had taken the opportunity to knock on the steel door in front of them. After a moment, Sasuke heard a hesitant voice drift through the small barred opening in it and say: "Come in."

Sakura opened the door to reveal what could have been just another bedroom in an apartment. The room was well lit and its heavy walls were coated by what could only be described as a cheerful shade of pale yellow. The floor was covered by a soft rug, and in the room was a bed big enough for Juugo to sleep in comfortably. Even the little corner meant to serve as a bathroom was hidden from view by a screen. Tsunade hadn't been kidding when she had said a jail cell with all the comforts they could give would be provided for Juugo – this particular cell looked like it had undergone a complete renovation. As for the actual structure of the room, as far as Sasuke could tell, it was solidly built and should be able to maintain Juugo if he snapped and tried to break out – at least until a sedative could be administered.

While Sasuke was still standing in the doorway, taking in the room, Sakura had already strode in and taken a seat beside Juugo on the enormous bed. For some reason, it made Sasuke nervous, and in response he strode further into the room and closer to the pair.

"I brought you some books, Juugo," Sakura was saying when Sasuke tuned into her words, as she handed Juugo the heavy bag filled to the brim with novels, "and I should be able to bring you some more clothes when I come by tomorrow...and hopefully some news of progress. I have a really good feeling about the tests I'm running.

"Oh, and I brought a visitor with me today," Sakura continued, though it was already obvious that Juugo had noticed Sasuke was in the room given that the larger man's eyes were focussed on the slighter Uchiha.

Sasuke decided this was as good a moment as any to speak.

"Juugo," he greeted the former Team Hebi member.

"Sasuke," Juugo replied in the same manner.

Sakura watched the two of them for a moment before hopping from the bed and strolling towards the door.

"I'll give you guys a few minutes to talk. I want to ask the guard a couple of questions," she said as she excused herself from their presence, a little smile on her lips. And then, in a flash, she was gone.

Silence reigned for a minute as Sasuke leaned against a wall and studied Juugo, while Juugo, still seated on the bed, studied Sasuke in turn.

"So how's your community service going?" Juugo finally asked and Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly in confusion. "Sakura told me about your sentence," Juugo elaborated.

Sasuke blinked, accepting the answer before replying: "I'll manage."

Juugo just smiled.

"You seem glad to be home," Juugo pointed out after another brief silence.

"What makes you say that?" Sasuke asked. He was genuinely curious because he didn't think he exuded anything that could make such an assumption valid.

"You're much less tense now," Juugo explained, "and much less angry. Even your chakra has a calmer feel to it."

Sasuke had no response to that.

And so silence ruled again until Sasuke, out of curiosity, thought to ask a question: "Juugo...are you happy with the decision you made to come with me?"

Juugo looked down at the floor and smiled before turning his gaze back to Sasuke.

"Yes, I am," he replied. "If I hadn't gone with you, I would have never met Sakura and your Hokage, and I would never have had this opportunity to rid myself of the curse. I would have spent the rest of my days living in a cold, dark cell with no hope for a future. Or worse, I might have broken out and caused more damage. Following you has given me the chance to have a life."

Sasuke nodded his head and thought about speaking again when Sakura suddenly came walking back into the room.

"Hey guys, sorry to interrupt," Sakura began, a small frown on her face, "unfortunately though, our time for today is already up. Sasuke and I have to be getting back to the hospital since I don't have much of a break for lunch. I'm sorry we couldn't visit for longer, Juugo, but like I said, I'll be back tomorrow...and hopefully with some good news."

"Don't worry too much about it, Sakura. I never expected you to just come by to visit, though it's very nice of you," Juugo told her.

"Hey," Sakura protested, placing her hands on her hips, and giving Juugo a semi-intimidating glare, "I know you agreed to this, but do you really think I'm just going to leave you down here alone all the time? I don't think so. So you better get used to me."

Juugo offered her a happy smile, and Sakura softened and returned the gesture.

Farewells were said on Juugo's and Sakura's part before the two Konoha shinobi exited the room, closing the door behind them. The guard down the hall was already getting to his feet and walking over, the key for the room already selected from his key ring.

"You all done, Pinky?" he asked Sakura, locking the door before he had even heard her answer.

"For today," she replied, "but expect me again tomorrow."

"I'm sure it will be the highlight of my day, Pinky," the guard grumbled sarcastically.

And with that Sakura turned on her heel and walked back down the hallway in the direction they had come. Sasuke was quick to follow her, sparing a single glance back at the guard who was testing the door to Juugo's cell, probably to make sure it had locked properly.

Sasuke then followed Sakura back through the door that led them into the stairwell, and back up the stairs to the ground floor door, where the door swung open immediately to reveal the chunin who had let them in.

"Let yourselves out," he told them, motioning toward the front door.

So they did.

"Why did you need to go talk to the guard?" Sasuke asked Sakura when they had cleared the building. He was wondering what could have caused her to return to the cell with a frown on her face.

"I just wanted to check on how they were treating Juugo and how things were going with Karin and Suigetsu," Sakura told him a little absently, looking into the distance at the faces on the mountain. But then she looked up at him and smiled. "And I wanted to give you guys some time to gossip."

Is Sasuke were a different kind of man, he would have choked on his own spit. As it was, he just glared at Sakura for daring to say something so silly. She just laughed though, like she had when he had glared at her from within the confines of that stupid orange jumpsuit.

Maybe he was losing his touch.

* * *

They were just outside the hospital's front doors when a shrill beeping could be heard coming from the vicinity of Sakura's hip.

"Damn," she muttered, while unclipping the pager from her belt to read the message on the screen: _Tsunade's office_.

"Crap," she mumbled this time, glancing up at her companion.

Sasuke was watching her, his eyes betraying slight amusement.

'_Probably waiting for me to swear again,'_ she thought, pursing her lips tight to prevent that from happening while she carefully decided on the next words that would leave her mouth.

"Tsunade-shishou wants me to report to her office right now," Sakura explained, "so I guess I'll see you lat—"

She was cut off by more high pitched beeping. This time the pager read: _Bring Sasuke_.

Sasuke was still watching her.

"Never mind," she mumbled. "You're coming too." Sakura didn't even bother to question how Tsunade knew that Sasuke was with her. Her teacher was the Hokage after all, and if she wanted to know where Sasuke was, she would.

Sasuke didn't look surprised either. He just shrugged and followed her as she walked past the hospital and towards the Hokage Tower, where they climbed the stairs and knocked on Tsunade's office door to announce their presence. They were given permission to enter, and walked in to find Tsunade, Kakashi, Naruto, Shikamaru and a girl she didn't know all gathered around the Hokage's desk.

"Hey, shishou," Sakura said in greeting to her teacher.

"Hello, Sakura," Tsunade replied. "Sasuke," she acknowledged the silent young man.

Sakura wasn't really paying all that much attention to her teacher though. Instead she was watching Naruto, who looked so much less angry than yesterday, almost as if he had already come to terms with what had happened. It was a complete turnaround, and one she hadn't expected to take place so quickly, but when he actually smiled and waved at her and Sasuke as they took up places at Tsunade's left side, Sakura felt something inside her uncoil and tension seep from her body. She had been truly worried about Naruto, but now she could relax a little.

Sakura was just about to ask her teacher what they were doing here, but before she could say anymore, the old toad Fukasaku poofed into appearance riding on top of another toad.

"Tsunade-hime," the toad croaked.

"Fukasaku-sama," Tsunade replied in kind. "And now that everyone's here we can continue."

Shikamaru then took up the role of speaker: "We're certain that we've correctly decoded the message that Jiraiya left, but we have no idea what it means." Shikamaru presented a piece of paper to Fukasaku. "We thought you might have better luck interpreting it."

Fukasaku accepted the paper and read the words aloud: "The real one isn't with them."

Well, Sakura didn't get it. Then again, she hadn't been there for the fight with Pain and she figured that someone who had would probably be the only one with any chance at understanding the cryptic words – which was probably why Shikamaru was so stumped.

After a minute of silence, Naruto, who had taken up a position leaning on the desk right in front of Fukasaku, looked like he was about to burst. His foot was tapping against the ground, and his eyes had widened in anticipation.

"So, how about it gramps? Does it tell you anything?" Naruto finally prompted, giving up on remaining silent.

Everyone was watching the old toad, daring to hope. Sakura noticed that even Sasuke was engrossed in what was transpiring in the room. But then Fukasaku frowned and Sakura felt her spirits plummet.

"I don't understand... With only this to go on it's still too vague," Fukasaku stated, and his voice sounded filled with regret for not knowing more.

Shikamaru frowned as well, and Sakura could practically see his mind at work. "Well then... Is there anything else you can think of?" he prodded.

Fukasaku knew nothing more, and as the conversation turned to what they were learning from the interrogation and the autopsy, Sakura could see Naruto growing more and more impatient, a little of the tension and anger from yesterday seeping back into his countenance. Finally, Naruto accepted that it would take a week to get any worthwhile results, and he visibly slumped, looking utterly defeated. Sakura wanted to hug him, but then almost too suddenly for her to follow, Naruto straightened and turned on his heel, heading for the door.

"I'm gonna go tell them to get a move on!" he declared.

And even though she was feeling for him, Sakura couldn't let him interrupt the older woman. He was being rash and he was thinking with his heart, not his head – normally something that Sakura admired, but not in this case. He didn't understand how hard Shizune's work was going to be.

"Hold it, Naruto!" she yelled after him, and he stopped dead in his tracks. "I won't forgive you if you get in Shizune-sempai's way. You want answers. That's what we all want, and interrupting her work won't help you get them any faster."

Naruto's back tensed and then his shoulders slumped once more.

"I'm going to get revenge for that Ero-sennin... There's no way I can just wait around here doing nothing," he told Sakura, sounding defeated.

Silence filled the room. Sakura didn't know what to say even though she could understand the way he was feeling. Doing nothing was unimaginable and left you with so much time to think about what you should be doing...what you_ could _be doing. It was one of the reasons she had thrown herself so much into her training when Sasuke and Naruto had left.

"Naruto-chan," Fukasaku interrupted the hush, "figuring out the code's meaning has nothing to do with you."

Naruto whirled around, looking confused and angry again.

"What are you talking about?" he questioned.

'_What is he talking about?' _Sakura thought, looking around the room. No one else seemed to get it either.

"Deciphered or not, there's no way you can win against Pain the way you are now," the toad continued. "So... come with me. I'll train you in the techniques of the sage on Myouboku Mountain... If you don't mind learning the same way I beat it into Jiraiya-chan."

Naruto looked stunned.

So was Sakura. Naruto would be even stronger if he underwent the same training that Jiraiya had, and that was hard to imagine. A stronger Naruto... it was almost too much to wrap her head around.

"And I'll really be able to beat Pain that way?" Naruto asked, his eyes narrowing in what Sakura recognized as his determination.

"I don't know," Fukasaku replied, "all I know is that if you stay as you are now, you're no good. So, do you mind, Tsunade-hime?"

"Of course not," Tsunade declared, looking at Naruto with what Sakura could only name as hope, "Naruto, you'd better work hard."

Fukasaku was speaking again, looking right into Naruto's eyes: "Training in these arts are harsher than you could ever imagine. Think you can do it?"

Naruto smiled, and Sakura saw even more tension release from his shoulders. He had a purpose now and that was what he needed.

"That Ero-sennin could do it, couldn't he? Then there's no way I can fail either!" Naruto declared confidently. "I'll do it."

"Well said," the toad murmured. Then louder, "I want to leave as soon as possible, so we'll meet at the gates in twenty minutes."

And with that Fukasaku was gone.

* * *

Authoress' Notes: Next time on The Butterfly Effect (and yes, I have suddenly decided to view this as a television show): What did Reika suggest to Sakura? And...cuteness. This chapter was more filler than monumental.


	8. Scars

Authoress' Notes: Yay! Yay! New chapter that is not coming out seven months after the last one! I hope you guys enjoy it because this can't last. I have exams starting in a week. Still, at least you get this! It contains some nice get-to-know-you time for our two lovable protagonists. And maybe I'll be able to finish one more chapter before Christmas as a present, but seeing as how I have another story I need to update, I can't guarantee it.

Also, if you like my work, go read my one shot You Never Tell a Girl that You Like Her. I wrote it last year and found it a couple of weeks ago when my hard drive crashed and I was recovering documents. I edited it and posted it in all its fluffy glory. It's a fun little story and I'm sure you'll enjoy it if you like the Sakura and Sasuke pairing, and I would love to get more feedback on it, so check it out!

Shameless plug, I know.

Also, there is a poll up on my profile! I've been itching to write another one shot, and I want you guys to help me decide what it will be about. I'm thinking a fluffy Christmas one, but I'd really like to hear your opinions.

* * *

**Chapter 8 - Scars**

_I tried to help you once, against my own advice._

_I saw you going down, but you never realized_

_That you're drowning in the water, so I offered you my hand._

_Compassions in my nature, tonight is our last stand._

_I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut,_

_My weakness is that I care too much,_

_And my scars remind me that the past is real,_

_I tear my heart open just to feel_**.**

_- Scars, Papa Roach_

* * *

"We really weren't needed there," Sakura commented as her and Sasuke made their way to the village gates to say goodbye to Naruto, who had run from the Hokage's office to pack before they'd had a chance to do it there. Tsunade had given both of them permission to see him off, as long as they both immediately returned to work after he was gone.

"Hn," Sasuke replied. He was too busy remembering how Tsunade had asked how he was liking the orange jumpsuit as they had left her office – with what was clearly the smile of a madwoman on her lips – to answer Sakura with more than one syllable. He was pretty sure though that he was asked to attend the meeting with Fukasaku purely for Tsunade's entertainment. Sakura's presence had probably been requested to keep her in the loop.

Now, both of them were walking side by side, Sakura guiding them through the less populated streets of Konoha so that they could make better time and avoid unwanted attention. Naruto was probably almost done with his frantic packing by now and soon would be sprinting over to the gates. Tsunade would also be there to see Naruto off, coming along with the aged Fukasaku.

Sasuke just wanted it all to take as long as it possibly could to delay when he would have to mop the hospital basement's floors and see that horrible orange..._thing_ that awaited him there, and that he was sure would haunt him in his nightmares for years to come.

It was almost funny how clothes could bother him so much.

All too soon, the gates were in sight, but no one else was there except for the guards, perfectly inconspicuous as they watched the forested path that led into the village, occasionally sparing a glance behind them into the town itself.

Sasuke heard Sakura sigh next to him. He studied her and smirked. Her body language was crystal clear. Unlike him, she actually_ wanted _to get back to the hospital where she undoubtedly had a lot of important work waiting for her, but she also couldn't leave because she was also the one who really _wanted_ to be out here to see Naruto off. Not that Sasuke was completely opposed to the idea – he would just never have come to do something so...sentimental on his own.

"I guess we have to wait," Sakura spoke softly, leaning up against the wall next to the gate.

He took a place beside her, about half a foot of space between them. It was something that Sasuke couldn't help but notice. Yesterday, when Sakura had walked him to the hospital for the first time, there had been about two feet between them. When they had gone shopping that afternoon, the space had shrunk down to a foot. As of this morning, it had been about six inches. The shrinking wasn't through any conscious effort of his, of that he was sure. And he didn't think that Sakura had even noticed the diminishing gap. It was almost natural. What it meant though, Sasuke had no clue.

He looked down at Sakura – for what must have been the hundredth time since they had left the hospital earlier that afternoon, though he would never acknowledge it. Her eyes were closed, her face was turned up towards the sun, and her lips curled up at the corners. She looked positively serene and it was hard to believe that only moments earlier she had been tense because of her warring thoughts.

"Sakura-chan! Sasuke!"

Sakura's eyes opened, focussing on the source of the much too loud voice. Sasuke's eyes turned there as well, unsurprised to see Naruto. A Naruto who was running towards them, a smile plastered on his face, his little pack banging against his back with every step that he took.

When Naruto was right in front of them, he skidded to a stop and grabbed Sakura and whirled her around in the air. Initially, she was stunned by the action, but then she started laughing, ecstatic that Naruto was doing something so normal. When he put her down, she didn't let go of him, holding him tighter instead and squeezing until he started to complain that his ribs were about to break.

When they separated, Naruto turned to Sasuke, an odd contemplative look upon his face, almost as if he was unsure what to do. Then he stuck out his hand and Sakura smiled.

Sasuke stared at Naruto's outstretched hand for a beat before he extended his own. The two clasped hands firmly and looked into each other's eyes while their grips simultaneously tightened. Sasuke smirked and Naruto cracked a smile while they continued to squeeze each other's fingers. For Sasuke and Naruto, this was normal and reminiscent of a childhood rivalry.

For Sakura, they had been at it far too long, and it was starting to get annoying. As she watched the two boys squeeze each other's hands harder and harder, her left eye began to twitch in the same strange way that both Tsunade's and Shizune's did when they were irritated. Thirty seconds later, she'd had enough.

She grabbed both their arms and physically pulled them apart, their grips on each other's hands no match for her chakra powered strength.

"Enough," she told them both, crossing her arms over her chest, her left eye still twitching, "I'm going to have to repair your fingers if you guys keep this up and then I'll be pissed."

Naruto just laughed and threw an arm around Sakura's shoulders while Sasuke's smirk grew. Sakura had never been able to stand their fighting, even when it was just friendly rivalry... Though she had always only gotten irritated with Naruto for it in the past. It was yet another change in her behaviour that had taken place sometime over the last two and a half years. One that he was maybe not so fond of.

"We were just saying goodbye, Sakura-chan," Naruto insisted with a grin, "just like old times."

"Uh-huh," Sakura replied, her voice laden with disbelief and disapproval, "and you weren't trying to see who had the stronger grip at all."

"Exactly," Naruto told her with a wink.

Sakura pushed him off of her and blew her hair out of her face, grinning in spite of herself.

"Whatever," Sakura finally sighed, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. "I'm going to go buy a bottle of water. I'll be right back. Don't kill each other in the meantime."

And then she was gone before either guy could entirely process what she had said, leaving Sasuke alone with Naruto. A Naruto who was blatantly staring at him now that Sakura was no longer there to hold his attention.

"I can't believe I'm leaving again so soon after you've come back," Naruto mused, scratching the back of his head with one hand. "It sort of sucks how things happened. I was really looking forward to catching up more too, but I guess there'll be plenty of time for that later now that you're back."

"Yeah," Sasuke replied simply. And it kind of, sort of felt good to think that they really would have time later...that he had a future here. Not that he would express any of these feelings to Naruto.

Naruto just grinned at Sasuke's short response.

"I'll take that answer to mean that you want to catch up too," Naruto laughed. "I'm sorry that it's not to be. I know you'll miss me terribly. But at least I can leave with the knowledge that you'll still have Sakura-chan to help you through this difficult time."

Sasuke punched Naruto in the shoulder for his stupidity.

"I'm sure we'll both be better off with you gone," Sasuke told Naruto, a smirk coming to his lips.

"And now you're being defensive because you know I'm right," Naruto fake sobbed as he pretended to wipe tears from his eyes. He then patted Sasuke on the shoulder all while murmuring: "It's okay. It'll be alright. I promise I'll be home soon."

This time, Sasuke kicked Naruto in the shin, and Naruto stuck his tongue out as he hopped around on one foot, nursing the bruised appendage.

"You have no appreciation for humour," Naruto complained, gingerly putting his foot back on the ground.

"No. You just weren't particularly funny," Sasuke answered, smirking some more.

"Bah. You're just jealous that you're not funny, teme," Naruto grumbled, fully straightening up and letting go of his shin.

Sasuke actually snorted. Kami, Naruto was the only one who could bring such an undignified sound out of him so easily. "You're an idiot, dobe."

Though he was actually impressed by how Naruto could be acting so upbeat today after the depression he had descended into yesterday. Naruto was perhaps the most resilient and optimistic person he knew, able to bounce back from anything and everything. Sasuke wasn't the same. Actually, he was a little jealous of how happy Naruto could be despite everything in his past: growing up an orphan, having been hated by the villagers his whole childhood, being the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki, and having just lost one of the most important people in his life only yesterday.

Then again, Sasuke himself wasn't even thinking too much about the past anymore – which had thoroughly consumed his life and dictated all of his choices since his family had been murdered. Well...except for when he had been with team seven. During that time, he had actually been able to forget a lot, which was one of the reasons he had left. And now that he was back, he was too busy figuring out his old teammates and what he wanted to do to focus on the past – nearly like old times, except this time he was looking forward.

It was then that Sakura came back, a huge water bottle weighing down one of her hands. She completely ignored them as she took up her position leaning against the wall again, unscrewed the top of the water bottle and took a huge swig of the liquid inside, sighing in satisfaction as she swallowed. Sasuke watched the whole procedure with mild interest, given how it was a welcome change from Naruto, unable to help but notice how her slender throat constricted as she swallowed.

"Much better," she mumbled, taking yet another drink. Then she finally deigned to turn her attention to them: "Nice to see you're both still in one piece. So what did you guys talk about while I was gone?"

"How much Sasuke's going to miss me," Naruto replied, smart enough this time to keep out of range of Sasuke's limbs.

"I'm sure he will," Sakura laughed, spying the glare Sasuke was shooting Naruto's way.

"I'm sure we all will. I mean, no one will appreciate the peace it'll give us," Tsunade declared sarcastically as she approached, having seemingly appeared from nowhere with Shikamaru at her side.

Fukasaku also appeared then, poofing into existence in front of Naruto, still riding on that strange, bigger toad.

"Right on time," Fukasaku croaked, looking up at Naruto with a small smile.

Tsunade ordered for the guards to open the gates then, and when they did, Naruto and Fukasaku immediately crossed Konoha's threshold, turning to face the four who were seeing them off.

"We've got no time to waste, so we're headin' out. Say yer goodbyes, Naruto-chan," Fukasaku instructed.

"I'll see you guys later, I guess," Naruto began, a grin starting to take form on his face. "Figure out that code, Shikamaru."

"Don't worry about me," Shikamaru uttered confidently, "just focus on your training."

"I'll send word when the autopsy and interrogation have both concluded," Tsunade added.

Fukasaku nodded his head once. "I'll leave ya'll a transmission frog then. Anythin' happens you let him know," he decided.

"Of course."

This was finally starting to feel like goodbye, and Sakura was starting to feel emotional. She could still remember the last time Naruto had left the village for training. He hadn't come back for two and a half years and she still remembered the hole in her life that his absence had left. She had missed him, more than she thought she would have. She hadn't liked the feeling then, and she didn't like that it was struggling to make a reappearance now. Naruto would be home before she knew it. So she steeled her nerves and put on her biggest smile.

"Go get 'em, Naruto!" she exclaimed showing him her fist, a clear sign that she wanted him to fight hard.

"Right!" Naruto yelled just as loudly, his attitude immediately catching up to and matching her's. Then Naruto included Sasuke in his attentions as the blond concluded his loud farewells: "Ne Sakura-chan, Sasuke – don't have too much fun without me. Okay, now I'm ready. Let's roll!"

Naruto started walking forward and made it about five steps out of the village before he froze, twitched, turned around, and with a sheepish smile uttered words they all really should have expected: "So...which way is Myouboku Mountain?"

After Fukasaku explained that it was about a month's journey on foot and reminded Naruto that he had signed a contract with the toads, Naruto disappeared, leaving behind only a wisp of smoke and a gaping Sakura.

"He disappeared!" she finally exclaimed, not knowing what had happened.

"Reverse summoning," Tsunade explained simply, and Sakura nodded in understanding, cataloguing the information somewhere in her head for further study.

And with that, the old toad bid them goodbye and disappeared as well.

With both Naruto and Fukasaku gone, Tsunade sighed before straightening her shoulders. "Okay. Let's redouble our efforts and figure out what Jiraiya wanted to tell us," she announced with renewed vigour to Shikamaru.

"Roger that," Shikamaru stated clearly.

"And you two!" Tsunade declared loudly, turning her attention to Sasuke and Sakura. "Get back to work!" Then her posture softened and her voice dropped in volume. "And I'd appreciate it if both of you could think about the problem at hand in your spare time as well. I'll leave a copy of the information on your desk sometime before the end of the workday, Sakura. You're both smart and we need all the help we can get with this. Who knows, maybe something will jump out at one of you."

"Of course, shishou," Sakura assented. She knew she would be thinking about the words Jiraiya had left for them anyways. There was no way she could forget them even in spite of everything going on.

Sasuke meanwhile didn't know why he, of all people, was being asked this. He was essentially on probation. He had been a traitor to his village, a criminal, until Tsunade had agreed to let him back just two days ago. But he shook it off. It couldn't hurt to think about it. He would probably do that anyways while he sat in his apartment, bored and searching for something to occupy his mind.

And after that, the four parted, the gates shutting with an audible thud behind them as they walked away.

* * *

On their walk back to the hospital after seeing Naruto off, Sakura had told Sasuke to meet her outside her office at five o'clock, which was when she would finish work for the day. So, at five to five, Sasuke ditched the stupid orange jumpsuit in a basket in the laundry room, and then brought the mop and bucket back to the janitorial closet in the basement. There, he dumped the contents of the bucket into a sink for the final time that day, and then placed it and the mop back in their respective places.

Then he headed to the elevator and rode it to Sakura's floor, thankful that it didn't stop to admit anyone else before he got there. He strode off the elevator and walked down the hall to her office, already sensing that she wasn't in there. Still, when he reached the door with Haruno Sakura emblazoned upon it, he tried the handle anyways.

Surprisingly, the door opened, and he paused on the room's threshold, uncertain of whether or not he should enter without her permission. He decided she probably wouldn't mind if he just went in to lie down on the couch while he waited, and so he did. And then he waited, and waited, and waited some more.

At five thirty she still hadn't shown up, and Sasuke was starting to get a little bored so he went over to Sakura's desk where the file on Pain sat, just like Tsunade had said it would. The Godaime had asked for his help with this for whatever reason, so he figured it would be alright if he flipped through the pages of information they had accumulated to date via Fukasaku. It was as he was going over the info for the second time that he felt Sakura's presence on the floor. Seconds later, the door was opening and Sakura was rushing in, her clothes soaked in blood.

Sasuke jumped to his feet reflexively when he saw her, the file falling from his hands to the floor. He was confused. This didn't make any sense to him. Why was Sakura covered in blood? He couldn't see any injuries as his eyes quickly scanned over her. So where was it coming from? What had happened?

Sakura, on the other hand, didn't even notice him when she walked in. She stripped out of the blood soaked shirt, letting it fall to the ground. Then her hands fluttered down to the waistband of her pants. As she was about to pull them off she froze, finally realizing Sasuke was also in the room. She hadn't even noticed his presence until now because she was so tired from the surgery she had just performed. Slowly, she looked up and her green eyes locked on the Uchiha's dark ones. Then she promptly blushed furiously in embarrassment and turned around so that her back was to him, thankful that she had at least kept her bra on.

"Sorry, Sasuke-kun," she mumbled. She knew her whole face was flushing and could feel the heat even on the back of her neck.

"Hn," Sasuke answered her, his eyes transfixed on her back.

He hadn't been trying to look, but he had been far too shocked by first the blood (which he now realized was not her's and likely a patient's), and then her pulling her shirt off to turn away. That's when he had seen the ugly, nearly three inch long scar on her stomach. Now that she was turned around, he could see a matching mark on her lower back. It looked as if someone had run her through with a sword.

"Where's the scar from?" he had to ask a few seconds later, curious to its origin. He was sure she hadn't had it when they were genin, and after that she had trained under Tsunade where she would have learned to heal any wound cleanly.

Sakura coughed and looked at him over her shoulder.

"If you could turn around or close your eyes..." she suggested quietly.

Sasuke immediately turned to face the wall and Sakura walked over to her wardrobe where she quickly found a black v-neck shirt and pulled it over her head. Then she began telling him about her fight with Sasori while she rapidly slipped out of her pants and pulled on a pair of black sweatpants that she had left here on another occasion. She had tried to wash all the blood off her body earlier, and she was fairly sure that she had succeeded, but she wouldn't feel truly clean until she showered later – so she wasn't going to put on pretty clothes when comfy clothes worked just as well.

"You can turn around now," she murmured when she got to the part where Sasori was about to stab Chiyo.

Sasuke turned and took a seat on the couch. She sat down at the opposite end, her legs pulled up to her chin, her arms wrapped around them.

"So anyways," she continued with her story, "I jumped in front of her and took the blade that was meant for her. It was poisoned, just like Sasori's other weapons, and even though I was trying to heal the wound while the sword was still in me, the poison on it was spreading quickly through my body and rendering me unable to move. That's when Chiyo gave me the last dose of the antidote instead of taking it herself.

"Sasori tried to pull away then, so I grabbed hold of the sword and tried to hold him in place. But he just disconnected the limb it was attached to from the rest of his body, and charged at us again, intent on stabbing Chiyo with his other blade. She outsmarted him though, and trapped him, using the puppets of his parents to stab him through the core that represented his human body. That's about when I fell, my injuries just too much for me to take care of with the lingering poison in my system and my chakra exhaustion, so Chiyo finished healing me using some of her own life energy. The injury was serious though and we had to get moving, so Chiyo didn't have the time to waste to make sure the deep cuts healed cleanly. So now I'm left with the scars," Sakura finished, her hand unconsciously moving to cover her abdomen where Sasuke now knew the scar on her front was.

Sasuke listened intently the entire time, taking the story in, cataloguing it with the rest of his information about Sakura in the past and now. He had gotten a taste for her skills, but hearing about how she fought in such a gruelling battle against such a high level opponent, even if it was with that Chiyo woman's help, was sobering. Sakura had taken a sword for a woman she hardly knew without a thought for her own safety, and she had almost died. In fact, she _would_ have died if Chiyo hadn't been there.

If he had been there, that never would have happened. He never would have let it.

"Anyways, I'm sorry I was late," Sakura finally spoke again, drawing herself back into the present. "Almost as soon as I was back to work this afternoon, a team came back from a mission with one of their members in critical condition. I only managed to get him stabilized about fifteen minutes before I got here."

"I figured as much," Sasuke replied, finally reaching down to grab the file on Pain from where it lay on the floor.

Sakura barely noticed as she was exhaling heavily, blowing her bangs out of her face.

"I'm exhausted," she mumbled and then yawned. "And I still have to get all the stupid paperwork done tonight so that we can babysit for Reika tomorrow."

"_We?_" Sasuke asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow.

Sakura's eyes snapped wide open and she looked at Sasuke, remembering that she hadn't actually told him yet that he was babysitting Reika's daughter, Mika, with her. It was the little plan that Reika had come up with earlier that afternoon. It was ingenious in its simplicity really. Reika had merely suggested that Sasuke babysit Mika along with Sakura. Then Reika could tell everyone how great Sasuke had been with her daughter, resulting in better rumours about Sasuke circulating throughout town and showing the village that Tsunade wasn't the only one who was welcoming him back. It wouldn't necessarily have the effect of changing anyone's opinion, but it would at least make them think, maybe make them question what they believed.

They had realized that there was one gaping flaw in their plan though. Sasuke had to actually come with Sakura to Reika's to babysit, something he wasn't likely to agree to. Which was why Sakura had simply decided that Sasuke would have no choice in the matter and that she would just take him over to Reika's place right after work given that he had to stick with her until she brought him home. It kind of wasn't fair to Sasuke, but Sakura had decided that it didn't matter as long as their plan had the potential to better his reputation even the littlest bit.

So she steeled her nerves.

"Yes, _we_," Sakura told him firmly. "Reika's the nice nurse who's been at the reception desk the last two mornings, and we're going over to her place after I'm done work tomorrow so that Reika and her husband can have a night off. I promise the experience will be harmless. Their kid Mika-chan's a real sweetheart."

Sasuke just stared at Sakura in a way that could almost be described as dumbly. She wanted him to help her watch a small child? Was she crazy? Why couldn't she just take him home first? So he asked her: "And you can't take me home first because?"

"Because I don't feel like running around Konoha," Sakura answered him, her eyes narrowing, "and because it's good for you to be out and about instead of stuck in that tragic little apartment of yours. You can try to ask Kakashi-sensei to take you home from the hospital if you really insist on being a child about this, but I don't think you'll have much luck with that."

Sadly, Sakura was right. Kakashi would find this situation amusing and would refuse to take him home on principal – that was if Sasuke could even get word to the other ninja between now and tomorrow evening, which was highly unlikely given Kakashi's elusiveness and the fact that Sasuke was on lock down. He thought about maybe just staying at the hospital tomorrow until the next morning or until Sakura took pity on him and came to fetch him after her babysitting gig, but practicality won out.

It's not like he would actually have to do anything if he went with her – he was sure Sakura would have the whole thing covered given her familiarity with the child and the family. All he would have to do was tag along, much like he had done when he had shadowed Sakura in the hospital, and then he would return to his apartment. It couldn't be any worse than returning there right after Sakura finished her shift and then sitting there for hours doing nothing until it was finally reasonable to go to sleep.

So Sasuke nodded, his sign of acquiescence.

* * *

That was how the next day found Sakura and Sasuke standing outside Reika's home at five fifteen, having just knocked on the door.

Sakura couldn't stop smiling. Last night when they had left her office after she had gathered all of her paperwork together, Sasuke had handed her the file on Pain that Tsunade had promised to leave for them. She was a little surprised to find it in his possession, but then she realized that he must have found it on her desk and started perusing it while he had waited for her. Completely acceptable since Tsunade had asked for his help too.

Sakura smiled a little more when she remembered that. Her shishou was a fantastic woman, trying to integrate Sasuke back into Konoha by including him in this business with Pain and getting him to work for the village again when he had spent so much time just working for himself. What was perhaps even more heartening to the pink haired kunoichi though than her teacher's efforts was that Sasuke appeared to actually be considering what Tsunade had asked of them, given that he had already made the effort to look at the file when he could have ignored the request.

The little fire of hope she constantly tended was now blazing in her heart.

She had really wanted to spend some more time with Sasuke after that realization, but she had really needed to settle in at home and finish all the paperwork she hadn't had the time for so that this evening's activities could go off without a hitch. She had managed to finish all of it only through sheer willpower, and now, here they were, waiting for Reika to open the door and let them into her home.

The door eventually opened to reveal a very nicely dressed Reika, who smiled brightly when her eyes landed on the teens.

"Sakura! And you brought Uchiha Sasuke with you! Mika's going to be so excited. She loves meeting new people," Reika greeted them, her eyes sparkling as she ushered them into the house.

Sasuke followed Sakura warily, taking in the simple foyer with shoes strewn about in a disorganized fashion. The foyer opened up onto a short hallway with a staircase up to a second floor. From his vantage point, he could also see a kitchen on one side of the main corridor and a living room on the other, the floor there covered in toys.

"My husband will be down in a minute," Reika continued when both Sasuke and Sakura had removed their shoes. "Would either of you like something to drink?" she asked, encouraging them to move into the kitchen.

"No thank you, Reika," Sakura replied following after the woman while Sasuke followed Sakura. And then: "Where's Mika-chan?"

A loud shriek was the reply to her question, and a tiny little child, with black hair pulled into a braid at the back of her head and eyes as green as Sakura's, ran into the kitchen and flung herself on the kunoichi who caught the little girl and lifted her into the air with ease.

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!" the girl exclaimed, squeezing Sakura tightly.

Sasuke watched as a positively beatific smile lit up Sakura's face as she clutched the girl to herself, squeezing her lightly in return. His heart skipped a beat.

"Hello, Mika-chan. It's been a while, huh?" Sakura spoke softly.

"Yeah," Mika said wistfully as Sakura placed her back on the ground, "way too long. I missed you!" And then Mika seemed to notice that Sasuke was standing behind Sakura, because her eyes went wide, she pointed a finger at him, and she asked: "Who's that?"

Sakura looked behind her, more for show than anything else, and then turned back to Mika and crouched down to her level.

"That's my friend, Uchiha Sasuke. He's going to watch you with me tonight," Sakura told the little girl, speaking quietly as if she was revealing a secret. "Why don't you say hello?"

Sasuke watched as Mika looked first to her mother for approval, who nodded and smiled, before coming a little closer to him and bowing her head, almost enough that she toppled forward. She managed to right herself however, and when she did, she flashed him a huge grin.

"Konbanwa, Sasuke-kun!" the girl chirped.

Sasuke was at a loss. Normally, his plan would be to just ignore the child, but Sakura was there watching him expectantly, and so was the kid's mom. Plus, he would be spending his entire evening in this house with Mika and Sakura, even if it wasn't by his choice. Steeling his resolve, Sasuke gritted out: "Hello."

Mika's grin faltered for a moment before growing even bigger. Sakura was still crouched down low near the ground, and Mika backed up until she was standing right next to the kunoichi. The girl then tugged on Sakura's sleeve to get the pinkette's attention. When Mika was sure she had it, she whispered, loud enough that Sasuke and Reika could easily hear too: "Ne, Sakura-chan, your boyfriend doesn't say much. Is he shy?"

Sasuke watched as Sakura turned bright red and began to rapidly explain to the little girl that Sasuke was just a friend, not her boyfriend, while Reika smacked her hand over her mouth to muffle what was obviously a bout of laughter. He couldn't understand their reactions. So the child had made a mistake. Why was Sakura seemingly embarrassed about it? Why was Reika so amused? Why did his stomach clench in a strange way when Sakura continued to reassure the girl that Sasuke was: "A friend. Only a friend, honey."

He stored the moment in his thoughts for later analysis when he heard heavy footsteps on the stairs. Apparently Reika's husband was coming to join them. After a couple of seconds, Sasuke watched as a man, with dark hair and the bright green eyes of his child, rounded the corner into the kitchen and stopped as he took in the scene before him.

The man's wife was still stifling her laughter while a now pink cheeked Sakura was still crouched on her haunches telling a positively beaming Mika that just because Sasuke was a boy and Sakura was a girl and they were spending time together didn't mean that they were automatically boyfriend and girlfriend, all while Sasuke stood in the same position he had been in since he had entered the kitchen, hands crossed over his chest while he leaned against their kitchen table.

Sakura finally stopped babbling when she noticed the man too. She stood up and gave a curt bow of her head before smiling at the new addition.

"Hello, Atsushi," Sakura greeted him.

"Konbanwa, Sakura," Atsushi returned. "Thanks a lot for watching Mika-chan for us again. It's been a while since Reika and I have gone out alone."

Sakura smiled. "So I've been told. And it's never a problem, Atsushi. Mika-chan and I have so much fun during our play dates, right honey?"

"Yeah!" Mika yelled enthusiastically, pumping her little fist in the air.

Atsushi and Reika both laughed as the man left the doorway and came to stand at his wife's side, wrapping an arm around her waist, and finally turning his attention to Sasuke. All the laugh lines disappeared from his face as he studied Sasuke carefully, his expression almost curious. Sasuke didn't flinch under the scrutiny. He had endured much worse from much more intimidating people, and to be honest, he was kind of hoping that maybe this man would decide that he didn't trust Sasuke enough to leave Mika with him, even if Sakura was there too – because then Sasuke could just go home and this ridiculousness would be over.

Eventually, however, Atsushi smiled, and Sasuke's lips tilted down in a slight frown. It didn't look like he was going to get his wish.

"Uchiha Sasuke," the father acknowledged, "it's good to see you back in Konoha."

And that was all.

The next second, Reika and Atsushi were reminding Sakura that there was plenty of food in the fridge and the cupboards and that they could help themselves to whatever they wanted for dinner. They reminded her of Mika's bedtime and gave her their estimate for when they would be home. Sakura just nodded along with that cheerful smile of her's, clearly used to the routine.

Meanwhile, Sasuke just stood there in shock, even as Reika and Atsushi finally left the house, leaving little Mika, Sakura, and himself behind. Sasuke couldn't wrap his head around the fact that Atsushi and Reika, who didn't even know him and could only know the rumours about him, had just left him in their home with their child. They had both been calm and unsuspicious, and it was...oddly nice to be treated without the hostility and fear that he had already learned most other people reserved for him.

Sasuke wasn't given long to dwell on those thoughts however, as the second her parents were gone, Mika was tugging Sakura out of the kitchen and into the living room to play. Sasuke followed, not knowing what else to do, and settled onto a couch while Sakura took a seat on the floor and accepted the doll Mika thrust into her hands. Then all he could do was watch as Mika instructed Sakura in their game.

"Your doll is the mommy and mine is the daughter. Kay, Sakura-chan?" Mika told her.

"Is my doll a nurse like your kaa-chan?" Sakura asked, smiling widely again.

Mika seemed to seriously ponder the question while she scratched her head in what Sasuke thought was a very Naruto like fashion.

"Yup," she eventually answered, "and the daughter can be a kunoichi. Then the mommy can take care of her if she gets hurt."

And so they played, Sasuke apparently forgotten by the both of them. That was just fine with him though, it's not like he wanted to play with dolls. Still, as he watched Sakura play with Mika, their eerily similar green eyes both lit with obvious joy, his stomach started to feel all knotted again. Playing mother and daughter with those dolls, Sasuke could almost see the two of them as such and it made him feel...something unidentifiable.

And it also made Sasuke think of his future. If he planned to revive his clan, he would need to marry and he would need to have children – children who for some reason had black hair and green eyes like Mika when he envisioned them. He blamed his imaginations on the scene taking place before him, but somehow he couldn't stop watching the two happily playing as time ticked by.

After a while, Mika seemed to be getting bored of their game and her stomach audibly grumbled, making Sakura burst out in laughter.

"You should have told me that you were getting hungry, Mika-chan. It'll take me a while to put something together for dinner," said Sakura as she stood. Then she pursed her lips as she thought. "Unless you just want some ramen?" Sakura suggested.

"I love your ramen, Sakura-chan! It's my favourite," Mika exclaimed happily.

"Well that's that then. I guess I'm going to make some ramen," Sakura answered simply.

And then she turned to Sasuke and from her expression – her small smile, her eyes wide like Mika's – Sasuke knew that he wasn't going to like the next words that came out of her mouth.

"And since I'm going to be busy in the kitchen for the next fifteen minutes, Sasuke-kun will stay with you, Mika-chan," she told both Sasuke and the little girl.

Sasuke knew exactly what he wanted to say. No. The word was on the tip of his tongue. And yet somehow, before he could get it out, a small hand was grabbing his and his attention was directed to the little girl whose smile had grown to an impossible size.

"I get to play with Sasuke-kun?" Mika asked, staring at him with those wide, wide eyes. Eyes that, despite his better judgement, Sasuke found he couldn't say no to. His answer didn't matter much though he supposed. He wouldn't be able to escape being in the room with Mika anyways. So what if Sakura wasn't there? The girl would play with her dolls and he would sit on the couch, just like they had been doing for the last half hour.

"Hn."

Sakura clearly took his reply to be a yes, and left for the kitchen, where Sasuke soon heard the sounds of her rummaging through the fridge and cupboards. Meanwhile, Mika was still holding onto his hand and staring at him with those big, green eyes of hers. She eventually let go and sat back on the ground, where her dolls lay on the floor, and Sasuke settled deeper into the couch, prepared to wait out the next fifteen minutes until Sakura had dinner ready.

But then Mika looked up to him and held out a doll.

"You can be this one cause he's a boy," Mika said cheerfully extending the proffered toy even further.

"No."

There was no way Sasuke was going to touch that doll no matter how wide this little girl made her eyes.

Mika instantly pouted.

"Why not?" she asked, and Sasuke swore that she looked to be on the verge of tears.

This was not his problem though, he told himself. Sakura had dragged him here along with her for _her_ babysitting job. He was only here because he needed to be escorted by her around town and thus couldn't go home yet.

Sasuke had to answer Mika though. She was not dissuaded in the slightest by his silence. She was still looking at him with those now tear filled green eyes – far too much like Sakura's.

He settled on: "Dolls are for girls."

"Oh."

Looking crestfallen, she turned back to the pile of dolls on the floor. Sasuke's memory immediately presented him with the image of Itachi telling him that he was too busy to play with him and how heartbroken he had felt upon hearing those words. Surprisingly, the memory of Itachi did not fill him with anger, but resulted in him suddenly finding himself maybe regretting his words to the little girl...just a little bit.

He knew he was going to indulge her as soon as that thought crossed his mind. But he was not going to play with dolls. He just couldn't do it.

"Do you have a ball?" he asked her as he heaved a sigh.

Mika immediately looked up, her expression revealing how positively delighted she was that he was paying attention to her.

"Yes," she answered without pause.

"Go get it," Sasuke told her.

And just like that she was gone, racing to fetch a ball, and Sasuke was left wondering what he had just signed himself up for and why he had done it.

* * *

In the kitchen, Sakura was cooking while she listened to the sounds of Sasuke playing with Mika. When she had left for the kitchen, she had figured Sasuke would just sit in the living room, doing nothing until dinner was ready, but she had been pleasantly surprised when she had heard him suggest that Mika fetch a ball. She had been even more astounded when upon the little girl's return, he had started playing with her, instructing her in how to throw and then catch the ball.

Obviously this was something she needed to see for herself, so she moved to the kitchen doorway and looked into the living room, where she saw with her own eyes Sasuke playing with Mika. Her heart began to beat uncomfortably fast in her chest as she watched them, so she ducked back into the kitchen and got back to work... but she couldn't rid her mind of the image of Sasuke playing with a child. And then she was thinking about Sasuke doing that in the future one day with a child of his own. A child that looked a lot like Mika in her imagination, with that same dark hair and pale complexion and green eyes... A furious blush rose to her cheeks as she tried desperately to knock the image out of her head. That was not a safe train of thought.

Soon enough, her signature ramen recipe was almost done cooking. She took a quick break from watching the pot to get bowls together for herself, Sasuke and Mika, and to set them out on the table with the proper utensils before she checked on the simmering ramen and called for the two to come into the kitchen.

Almost instantly, Mika ran in yelling excitedly about ramen.

"Take a seat, Mika-chan, and I'll come serve it," Sakura explained to the young girl, keeping one eye on the pot.

"Alright," Mika answered heading to the table as Sasuke came into the room as well.

"I'll just be a second," she told him as she moved the pot off the burner and bustled around the kitchen grabbing three glasses and filling them with juice she pulled out from the fridge. She brought them to the table and then immediately brought over the ramen, serving first Mika, and then Sasuke, and finally herself.

"Itadakimasu!" Mika sang, before digging into her meal. Sakura was quick to follow, eating the hot ramen rapidly. She had skipped lunch that day to visit Juugo and was actually sort of starving.

Not that she had minded skipping her lunch, especially given how happy her news had made Juugo. When she had arrived at the hospital that morning, she had taken a few minutes to check the results of her tests and just like she had thought, they had been very revealing. She had discovered a foreign protein in the blood and tissue samples that she had taken from Juugo that reacted intensely to chakra. She would need to do more research, but this was very indicative to her.

It meant the theory she had been working on was probably right.

Since the enzyme was always present in Juugo's cells and blood and he wasn't always in a murderous rage, it clearly needed to be activated by something, and that something was probably chakra – most of the time. Juugo had explained to her that he did have control over his transformations and that they involved the use of chakra, which meant to her that chakra was probably what activated the enzyme. But there was also something that caused him to go over the edge and lose control, probably due to a hyperactivity of the enzyme. From what Juugo had told her, her guess was that anger and other emotions could act as triggers for this hyperactivity, she just didn't know how yet, but she would figure it out.

Still, she was well onto the right path and with a little more time and some more experiments, she was sure she would be able to find a cure.

Now though, she needed to think about Mika and not her work with Juugo.

The little girl was sitting next to Sakura, eating her ramen slowly and clumsily, spilling drops of the broth on the table which Sakura would have to clean up later, which was more than fine in her books. A little mess was nothing compared to the happiness that being in Mika's presence brought her. Mika was such a bright and cheery girl and spending time with her could not leave Sakura in a better mood.

Especially tonight. Tonight had been absolutely perfect so far and she hoped it would continue in the same way until Mika went to bed. And it did.

After dinner, Sakura had Mika help her make strawberry daifuku for dessert. Knowing of Sasuke's aversion to sweets, Sakura hadn't pushed him to help and had instead gotten some cherry tomatoes from her bag, that she had _appropriated_ from the hospital cafeteria earlier that day, and placed them on the table before him. The corners of his lips had tilted up and he had even said thanks. So while Sakura and Mika had worked, Mika telling her all about the rest of the kids in her preschool class, Sasuke had munched on his tomatoes and watched them.

All too quickly, the daifuku were done and Sakura and Mika were munching on one each, saving the rest for Reika and Atsushi given that it was their ingredients that Sakura had used. Somehow the evening had flown by, and it was already time for Mika to start preparing for bed, so Sakura followed her upstairs, telling Sasuke that she'd be down as soon as Mika was in bed and to make himself comfortable in the living room.

At first Sasuke listened to Sakura, but even though the living room was filled with plenty of books that could hold his attention and a television, he soon found himself drawn upstairs. As he reached the second floor, he heard Sakura's voice drifting out from one of the rooms. She was clearly telling Mika a story. His curiosity getting the better of him once again, Sasuke walked closer, Sakura's voice becoming clearer as he neared the open doorway. Soon he was standing within the room's entryway, listening as Sakura, who lay on Mika's bed on top of the covers, read to the little girl lying tucked under the blankets beside her.

"And then," Sakura whispered, pausing dramatically and flipping the page of the storybook in her hands, "the brave shinobi and the beautiful princess finally reached the castle. The king was so overjoyed to have his daughter back that he offered to grant the shinobi one wish as long as it was within his power."

The scene before him was so painfully adorable and heartwarming that even Sasuke felt himself being moved and was soon just as engrossed in the conclusion of the story as the two girls on the bed.

Sakura flipped the page again and continued: "There was only one thing the shinobi wanted. He had fallen in love with the princess and he wanted to be with her for the rest of his life. So he asked the king for the princess' hand in marriage."

_Flip._

"When the princess heard the shinobi's wish, she was so overjoyed that she flung herself into his arms. She had fallen in love with him as well and wanted nothing more than to be married to him for the rest of her life. The king, seeing that his daughter was happy with the shinobi's proposal, agreed and granted the shinobi his wish."

_Flip._

"A few months later, the princess and the brave shinobi were married, and they lived happily ever after," Sakura finished, closing the book and placing it on the night stand next to the girl's bed.

Mika yawned and settled herself deeper into her pillow.

"Thank you, Sakura-chan," Mika mumbled sleepily.

"You're welcome, honey. And now it's time to go to sleep," Sakura replied, standing up from the bed. "Goodnight, Mika-chan."

"Goodnight, Sakura-chan. Goodnight, Sasuke-kun," the little girl slurred, shooting him a happy look before her eyelids drifted shut.

Sasuke hadn't thought that the girl had noticed him, absorbed in the story as she was. Sakura clearly hadn't been paying attention to his presence he concluded, since she whirled around to face him, shock plainly written on her face. She glanced once more at Mika, and then walked over to the doorway where he stood. She flicked the light switch off, extinguishing the bulb overhead and leaving the bedroom dark.

"Did you need something, Sasuke-kun?" she asked quietly as she exited the room and closed the door behind her, leaving it open just a crack.

"No," he answered her just as softly. He had only moved as far out of the doorway as was needed to let Sakura pass and shut the door behind her. They were only inches apart.

"Oh," she whispered as he looked down at her.

And time stood still. Even in the dim lighting of the hallway, he could see the light dusting of freckles across her small nose, the pink bangs that fell into her bright green eyes rimmed by equally pink eyelashes, the moisture left behind when her tongue darted out to lick her full lips...

Sakura was beautiful.

It was something he hadn't really realized until now. In the three days he had been back in Konoha and their time on the road, he had obviously noticed that she had changed, but it seemed that only now was his brain putting all those changes together to paint a picture of the teen before him. Her face had obviously matured, and the childhood fat had melted from her cheeks. She was shorter than him, slim and fit. Yesterday when he had seen her in a bra, he had been too stunned to process the image, but looking back on it he had to admit that she had an impressive figure for sixteen.

Finally Sakura broke their eye contact, a blush coming to her face.

"I need to go clean up downstairs," she mumbled, turning away from him.

"I'll help," he offered.

She nodded and headed back downstairs, and he was right on her heels. When they reached the kitchen, he took up washing the dishes so Sakura could dry them and put them back in their rightful spaces. It was quiet while they worked until Sakura chose to break it.

"Thanks for being such a good sport about this, Sasuke-kun. I shouldn't have made you come. It wasn't fair of me," she murmured as she placed a bowl back into an open cupboard.

Her statement surprised him and for a moment he wasn't sure what to say. It was true he hadn't wanted to come but the evening had passed unexpectedly quickly and painlessly. Playing catch with Mika had irritated him much less than he had thought it would, and towards the end of their game, just before Sakura had called them for dinner, he had actually found himself unconsciously smirking at the little girl's antics. The meal Sakura had served them, though simple, was good, and afterwards, he had been pleasantly surprised when she had pulled out some tomatoes for him to snack on while the two girls occupied themselves making some sweet dessert.

No, this hadn't been something he had wanted to do, but it hadn't been so bad.

"It's alright," he answered her, scrubbing out the last dish in the sink. "It wasn't so bad."

Sakura's smile when he glanced at her was just as stunning as the one she had given Mika upon their arrival. When Sasuke turned away from her and back to his work, his lips were turned up into a small smile of his own, glad to be the one who had put such an expression on Sakura's face.

* * *

Authoress' Notes: This is the longest one yet and it was just so much fun to write given how sweet it is compared to the other chapters so far. Sadly this won't last. I will tell you that the attack on Konoha is coming soon, but before that I have a few more peaceful days that I can fill with some fun stuff.

Also, in light of new info from the manga...well I don't know if I'm going to need to change things in this story. Right now I'm just going to proceed as I had planned to when I started writing this, but I may change my plan in the future to reflect the manga.


End file.
